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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27876553">Mutant in the Mirror</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mintstream/pseuds/Mintstream'>Mintstream</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Amazing Spider-Woman [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Female Peter Parker, Fighting Ring, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Steve Rogers, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapped Peter Parker, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Steve Rogers, Sexual Harassment</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:41:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,259</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27876553</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mintstream/pseuds/Mintstream</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Penny startled awake, blinking rapidly at the darkness that surrounded her and the head-splitting migraine. She let out a low whine as the pain came into focus, moving to grip at her head but instead blinking in confusion when she realized that her hands were cuffed. </p><p>Where the fuck was she?</p><p>---</p><p>Steve could already tell he hated this mission. Infiltrating and freeing bases, putting the good in the world the Accords had tried to stop him from doing was his responsibility, but being huddled in a small and cramped dog cage, cuffed and gagged. Well, it wasn't enjoyable to say the least. The cages all piled next to each other, and he knows he will eventually save and free these strangers.<br/>Though one, he finds out, isn't as much a stranger to him as he thought.</p><p>AKA Penny and Steve both get kidnapped and taken to a mutant fighting ring while Tony tracks them down.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Rhodey" Rhodes &amp; Tony Stark, Peter Parker &amp; Steve Rogers, Peter Parker &amp; Steve Rogers &amp; Tony Stark, Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark, Steve Rogers &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Amazing Spider-Woman [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1899001</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>138</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>250</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Short a Penny</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>eyyyyyy new story for the new yearrrrr</p>
<p>this one should update pretty consistently. it's pretty short</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Penny startled awake, blinking rapidly at the darkness that surrounded her and the head-splitting migraine. She let out a low whine as the pain came into focus, moving to grip at her head but instead blinking in confusion when she realized that her hands were cuffed. The cuffs weren't like ones police had though, instead they were thick and went up to her wrists. And after a moment of horror, she finally noticed the covering over her mouth, cold and metal and clipped around her face. A muzzle.</p>
<p>Where the fuck was she?</p>
<p>The teen tried her best to take in her surroundings in the inky darkness, never more thankful for her super hearing. She was in a car, she thought, probably a semi-truck. The wheels were loud and big as they rumbled across the rough road that bumped her up and down without giving her a break of stillness. There were also a lot of heartbeats, seven of them, though she thought one might belong to the person who was a little further away. The driver, maybe.</p>
<p>She poked around with her feet at the space in front of her, her toes coming into contact with thin bars and pushing at a thick cloth that gave a crinkling sound at her contact like it was made out of raincoat material. She was in a cage, a...a dog cage? It was small, barely big enough for her to sit up properly, and she was a small person. The bars were thin and crisscrossed like the ones she'd seen in stores before.</p>
<p>Penny forced herself to take a deep breath through her nose, forcing down panic. She had to keep a cool head, if she lost it now she could get herself killed and the other people likely kidnapped in the truck with her. Okay, okay, so she was kidnapped. Not great, but Mr. Stark would come and find her. He had to. Sure, she didn't have her suit since he'd taken it after the Ferry, and it wasn't like he kept track of her. But he was Iron Man! He would find her.</p>
<p>Maybe he wouldn't.</p>
<p>She didn't think Mr. Stark was like, heartless or anything, but it was asking a lot to keep track of and find a kidnapped kid that he barely even talked to. And it wasn't like he was her mentor anymore. She could hope that he'd come, but she couldn't count on it. She had to figure out how to get herself out, and the other people around her too.</p>
<p>She thought about breaking down the cage she was in--the thin wires would make it so easy--but she was cuffed and muzzled and she had no idea where she was. And if she wanted to get six other people out with her, who she wasn't even sure were conscious, she'd have to wait. Plus, knowing why she'd been kidnapped would be a plus.</p>
<p>Sex trafficking was an option, one that made shivers crawl up her spine and fight down bile, but she couldn't rule out the fact that she was Spider-Woman either. So what about the other people?</p>
<p><em> Maybe they have powers too, </em> she mused. It'd be cool, almost, getting to know other people who were kinda like her. The most she'd met were the Avengers when she'd been asked to fight them. It'd be nice to know other people like her and not have to fight them.</p>
<p>She forced herself to relax against the back of the cage, curling up and pressing her knees up to her chest, as she tried to remember what had happened, how she'd gotten there. She remembered the Ferry, how badly she'd messed up, how she'd almost got other people killed. She shuddered thinking about it, how more deaths could've been on her hands had Mr. Stark not shown up, how mad her former mentor had looked when they'd met out on that rooftop, how he'd taken away the suit.</p>
<p>So he'd taken the suit and given her some stupid touristy clothes that she was still wearing now. She'd been on her way home, just trying to weave through the streets of curious onlookers when she'd decided to take a cut through an alleyway. There'd be less staring and she'd get home quicker. Win win. Or maybe not, considering May probably knew she'd skipped already, if the calls Karen had alerted her to when she'd had the suit were anything to go by.</p>
<p>She hadn't really noticed her senses go off when she'd entered the alleyway, already on edge and distracted by the knot of anxiety that swelled in her stomach and pulled at her throat. So when she'd felt a prick in her neck and had pulled away a small looking dart, she'd been shocked. Her shock hadn't lasted long as the road below her became closer and closer until everything was black.</p>
<p>And everything was still black. But at least she was awake she guessed. She tried to let out a sigh of frustration but only managed to blow a breath of hot air through her nose. She just wanted to be back home with May, in her own clothes and in her aunt's arms. She'd take the woman's anger over whatever this was, and that was saying something.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Steve could already tell he hated this mission. Generally he liked infiltrating and freeing bases, putting the good in the world the Accords had tried to stop him from doing, but being huddled in a small and cramped dog cage, cuffed and gagged. Well, it wasn't enjoyable to say the least. But it was important, so that stifled the hunger in his stomach and the ache in his back.</p>
<p>The team had gotten wind of a mutant fighting ring being run in Louisiana, New Orleans to be specific. It was new, relatively speaking. A few years old and building up a reputation for brutal fights and even more brutal treatments. After some discussion, they'd decided on having him be intentionally kidnapped so he could scope out the situation and get the other prisoners to fight back, along with the Rogue Avengers help. Once free they'd either get them back to their families or place them in Wakanda.</p>
<p>Being kidnapped had been a bit of the harder part. It had required being noticed intentionally in a public spot but not too public that it would alert the news. Mostly the group captured teens and kids so he'd thought they might not go for him, but the thought of having Captain America as part of their illegal fighting ring had just been too much to resist apparently.</p>
<p>For some reason, a blanket had not been thrown over his cage like the rest, and he was able to survey the dark semi-truck without much intrusion. There was one guard in the back, a gun laying beside him on his couch as he scrolled on his phone, the screen illuminating the room just enough that he could tell what was going on, which wasn't much.</p>
<p>There were about four other cages, all with thick blankets thrown over them. They were small, smaller than his cage, and he was kind of glad that he'd been afforded a bigger cage, but it made him worry that the cages held kids. They were certainly small enough. There weren't any sounds coming from any of them, not more than--</p>
<p>A whine, followed by a grunt of confusion. His head swiveled towards the cage to his right, narrowing his eyes as if it would allow him to make out someone underneath the coarse looking blanket. However, the blanket did move, shifting as though the person underneath were poking at it and testing out their surroundings.</p>
<p>With the lack of anything better to do he peered at the cage intently, but was only rewarded with a couple loud breaths and the sound of someone shifting around before they grew silent again. He waited for a few more minutes, but nothing else happened, so he guessed that was the end of that for now.</p>
<p>The man ended up leaning against the small cage for hours on end as the semi-truck continued to move. He'd been taken in Tennessee a few hours before the person next to him had woken up, so he had another few to go. Most of which was spent thinking about Bucky still recovering in Wakanda. He was going to call after this mission, check up on him and see how he was doing, maybe rest up in Wakanda before their next mission. If they had time. There were some reports of alien weapons in New York he wanted to look into.</p>
<p>By the time the truck rolled to a slow stop Steve had cricks in his neck and couldn't remember feeling so sore since he'd gotten the serum. Nothing much had happened other than when the man with the gun gave the person in the cage next to him another syringe of drugs, which was met with grunt of dissatisfaction and the cage shaking slightly, but other than that there'd been silence most of the ride. Now though, voices began surrounding the truck, low and murmured and hard even for his ears to make out.</p>
<p>He was trying to figure out what someone was saying when the door to the truck was thrown open, the shifting of metal interrupting whoever was talking, and causing for dim light to flood the dark room. There were chuckles and laughs as the men looked over their haul, obviously pleased with the amount of mutants they'd gotten.</p>
<p>"Hey, why's that one not covered?" one man asked in a thick accent, climbing into the truck and gesturing at Steve's cage.</p>
<p>"Oh, you're going to like this one, Boss. Come and see," invited the man who'd been in the semi-truck with them, smiling broadly as he waved them over to him. Multiple men climbed in, hunkering over to where he sat in his little cage. Many let out gasps or laughs at the sight of him, pointing at his gagged face in joy.</p>
<p>"Well I'll be damned, Joey," smiled the man who Joey had addressed as the boss, his voice rough and gravelly as he took another puff from his cigarette purposefully blowing it into his face, "Captain America. We'll make a killing off of him, I'd say business will be booming boys."</p>
<p>"That's not all," Joey said, moving towards the cage next to Steve that he'd hurt the grunts from hours ago, lifting up the blanket to the front and allowing the men to peer inside. Steve tried to sit up a little and catch a glimpse of whoever was so intriguing, but was unable to see anything.</p>
<p>"Well, aren't you a pretty thing," the boss cooed as he knelt down in front of the cage, poking his finger through the bars. He was met with a kick to the door, and he quickly retracted his finger, shaking off the blow with a smile, "What's so special about this one? I mean, sure, she's a cutie, but she couldn't even break through the cage."</p>
<p>"She just got another round of drugs, she would've broken out by now if she didn't have them."</p>
<p>"So she's strong?"</p>
<p>"She's <em> Spider-Woman." </em></p>
<p>That caught his attention more than anything else. He'd been watching the interaction with an eagle eye, but that hadn't been what he'd expected. Spider-Woman? <em> The </em>Spider-Woman that had fought him in Germany and had been fitted out with Tony's tech, who was sure to be under the man's watchful eye ever since he'd recruited her. He knew that the man had been busy lately ever since he'd sold Stark Tower, and probably distracted after what had happened with the Avengers, but still.</p>
<p>"Spider-Woman?" the boss repeated, sounding curious and cautious, "I thought she was with Stark, if he comes down here looking for her it's all our asses on the line, Joey. Do you want to deal with the boss, 'cause I sure don't!"</p>
<p>The mention of a bigger boss caught his attention. The source of all this, maybe?</p>
<p>"No, sir--I mean, I know, sir. But it won't be a problem. The two had a spat <em> just </em>before we got her, he took back all his tech and everything. I doubt he'll be looking for her."</p>
<p>The boss looked between the woman in the cage and where Steve sat glaring daggers at the man, before shaking his head, a small smirk forming on his face, "Well, I guess we've got two superheroes, boys. Now load everybody off, the cops just drove by but I'm sure they'll be back soon and I don't want them catching whiff of anything."</p>
<p>With that, the man left, and the rest of his crew began picking up the cages, two men picking one up at a time and placing them on a rolly platform before wheeling them off into the building. He stared at Spider-Woman's cage until a blanket was finally thrown over his own and he was being moved like the others.</p>
<p>Of all the things he'd expected from this mission, Spider-Woman wasn't one of them. He thought about what Joey had said, about how the young hero had had a fight with Tony, how he'd taken back the tech. From the boss's reaction he was sure the man knew plenty about the vigilante and had likely thought about taking her but had decided against it thanks to Tony. But the woman didn't have Tony anymore, didn't have that protection, and the moment he'd left...</p>
<p>Well, the metal bars biting into his back were clear enough of what had happened.</p>
<p>He wondered if for a second that this was a mission, that it was a setup, but something about it didn't seem quite right to him. There were already things happening in New York, why wouldn't Tony fix that first? And the man had only, presumably, known Spider-Woman for a couple of months. It seemed like a lot to recruit some youngster and then immediately put her in danger like this. Steve knew Tony didn't trust easily, and he was sure that he and the woman were far from close.</p>
<p>Suddenly his cage jumbled around and he was taken off of the pulley and placed on the floor. It was a lot noisier here, and he could hear people moving around busily as they prepped for the new arrivals. He hated having the blanket on top of his cage, because he couldn't see what was happening at all. He could hear a cage open as whoever was in it was led out and then processed. Each took about five minutes as they went down the line until they finally got to him.</p>
<p>The blanket was thrown off and he was blinded by a bright light, causing him to squint even as the door was finally opened. Guns pointed at him he had no choice but to stumble out and keep his head down, not that he'd do any different otherwise. He had to swallow down his pride for this mission.</p>
<p>The biggest man with the biggest gun sauntered up to him, getting right up in his face and smiling crookedly, his breath stinking of cigarette and garlic that made him crinkle his nose in disgust. But he stared right back, his own steely blue eyes not breaking eye contact with the green ones in front of him. The man had an unearned air of superiority, like he thought he was the most important person and world and could do whatever he wanted to whomever. Well, that'd change after he and his team took this place down, then they'd see who was so high and mighty.</p>
<p>"Now, you listen here, <em> Captain America," </em>the man drawled in a mocking tone, "You might think that you're on top of the world, that you're so powerful, but here, you listen to me. Or, you'll be getting some of this." He held up his gun, a smirk plastered across his face, "I'm sure our commodities won't be up to your standard after being cushy with Stark, but I hope they're up to standard."</p>
<p>The butt of the gun suddenly slapped him in the face, and the men howled with laughter as he stumbled from the blow. He could already feel a bruise beginning to form around his eyes, but he was sure it would be gone within a few hours anyway. He was roughed around a bit more until they became seemingly bored with their entertainment and his cuffs were taken off, new clothes being shoved into his hands in their place.</p>
<p>He was led out of the bigger room that still contained a couple of covered cages and down a short hallway before being deposited in a small room, where he was ordered to change. It was barely bigger than a closet, with just enough room for him to lie down curled up on the floor. There was nothing adoring the room save for a single light bulb at the top and a string to turn it on and off. A bit of a strange cell, but likely easier to build without suspicion, and small enough to fit the plenty of them for the mutants that were in the basement of the shabby hotel. Apparently not enough though.</p>
<p>He had resigned himself to the fact that this would be where he was sleeping for the next few days and had been stretching, trying to soothe the ache in his muscles after being cramped into such an uncomfortable spot for hours on end, when a yell came from outside his door.</p>
<p>"On the back wall, hands behind your head!" they ordered, banging on the metal door. He complied grudgingly, doing as told and watching with curiosity and anticipation as the door was open and a girl was thrown in. She stumbled at the guard's push, practically barreling into his arms as he rushed to catch her in surprise. She didn't seem to appreciate the gesture, though, scrambling away from him.</p>
<p>There were chuckles from the men standing just outside the door, and one called out in a leering and suggestive tone, "Have fun with your roommate!"</p>
<p>And then the door closed.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Tony was furious. He was fuming and tired and anxious beyond words.</p>
<p>The billionaire slumped into a chair in his lab and let out a huge sigh of frustration as he thought about the kid, about their argument and the suit strewn haphazardly across the table in front of him. He couldn't look away from the mask, the narrowed eyes reminding him of Penny's face of anger and disbelief, of the girl's guarded fear when he'd stepped out of the suit.</p>
<p>He hadn't really meant to yell like he had, to sound exactly like his father had whenever he'd messed up or disappointed him. But she'd almost <em> died, </em>had almost gotten a boatload of other people killed because she hadn't been paying attention and trying to take on more than she was ready for. And he knew he'd encouraged it. Taking her to Germany and giving her the suit had only made her think she could take on the world, like what she was doing bigger than her own life.</p>
<p>He'd wanted to put more time into their relationship, had been thinking about it as he'd made his way to Siberia to help Steve, but after everything that had happened...a new person had been too much for him to handle. So he'd watched from a distance, kept her at an arm's length and listened to her voicemails, watched the footage of what she did on patrol, assigned Happy to take care of her for when things became too much.</p>
<p>Well, they'd become too much, and now he was reaping the consequences of not being there for the girl. Thankfully, <em> thankfully, </em> no one had died. He didn't know what he would've done if anyone had died, if <em> Penny </em>had died. So he'd done the only thing he could think of, he'd taken the suit. The suit was what had given her so much confidence that she could take down a jacked up weapons organization in the first place, taking it--while not completely fixing everything--would maybe put a damper on her for awhile. A reality check.</p>
<p>He'd talk to her again, in a couple of weeks once he'd completely moved out of the tower and into the compound, once they'd both had time to cool down. Maybe they could start again...he'd probably fucked up too bad for that, but it would be worth a shot. Penny was going to practically rule the world some day, and he wanted to help her, he wanted to at least try.</p>
<p>He sighed again, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. He needed something to drink, something to help him relax and then maybe--</p>
<p>"Boss, I've got a report you need to look at. Urgently," Friday interrupted.</p>
<p>He grunted as he got up, undoing his tie and cuffs, scoffing, "Tell whatever fancy shmancy business or government asshole to stuff it because I cannot--"</p>
<p>"It's about Penelope Parker, sir."</p>
<p>"What? I just sent her home a few hours ago, what else could she have possibly gotten into?"</p>
<p>"A missing person's report has been filed, sir, only a few minutes ago."</p>
<p>A missing person's report? He hesitated for a second. Penny was strong, freakishly so, the chances of some rando picking her up off the street were extraordinarily slim, but she'd made enemies with a lot of tech. He wondered if...</p>
<p>"Who filed the report?" he asked.</p>
<p>"Her aunt, May Parker. I have been searching cameras near her apartment and I have not been able to locate her."</p>
<p>Part of him thought he should leave it alone, that the kid was probably sulking and blowing off some steam after the disastrous afternoon, but Tony Stark had never been one to let things go, "Search through footage since I sent her home, find her and track where she went."</p>
<p>"Yes, boss." He waited a few minutes as Friday searched, tapping his foot in anticipation for a bit until a screen finally popped up in front of him. It showed Penny in the embarrassing shirt and pants he'd gotten her, weaving through the crowd with her head down. It was relatively normal and what he'd expected, and he watched her cut into an alleyway. And then the screen disappeared.</p>
<p>"What? Where's the rest?" he demanded, a cold feeling dropping in his stomach.</p>
<p>"I cannot find anymore footage of her, sir," Friday responded, "There are no cameras on this alleyway, and she does not appear in any cameras in the area."</p>
<p>"Extend the search to the rest of the city, focus on her clothes and facial recognition. Find her."</p>
<p>"Of course, sir."</p>
<p>It took about an hour for Friday to comb through everything within that time period, and when that hour was up, there was nothing. No trace of the girl he'd just yelled at. Penelope Parker was truly missing.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>tell me what you thinkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Who Meets People Normally? Not I</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>sexual harassment/assault of a minor tw</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Penny was starting to wish she hadn't gone after the Vulture on that ferry. If she hadn't, then Mr. Stark wouldn't have taken the suit, and then she wouldn't be here sitting in a too small cage trying to breathe with her hands behind her back and her mouth gagged. That's what the men had said anyway, the boss and the guy named Joey who had injected her with more drugs halfway through the ride. Or she thought it was around halfway through, but by the time she'd woken up again they'd only ended up driving for another ten minutes before the semi-truck finally rolled to a stop.</p>
<p>The realization that she'd gotten herself into this mess had struck her as if she had actually been hit, but what had been by far more interesting was when she'd heard that Captain America was there too. That almost made all of this cool.</p>
<p>There had been voices, muffled and she knew she could make them out if she hadn't been drugged, but as it was she felt weak and sluggish, unable to really access what was happening around her. But she'd recognized the sound of the semi-truck opening, the metal screech followed by laughs and jeers, though she wasn't 100% sure at what. There had been grunts and the sound of footsteps as the voices outside began climbing into the truck.</p>
<p>"Hey, why's that one not covered?" a man had asked, his accent thick, and she'd tried to place it. It'd sounded southern, with a hearty feel to it, though she still didn't know where she was, but she'd guessed she was nowhere near New York.</p>
<p>"Oh, you're going to like this one, Boss. Come and see," invited the man who'd injected her with those stupid drugs. There was creaking as multiple men climbed in, passing her cage and stopping at the one next to her, many barking out laughs. She wondered what was so special about them.</p>
<p>"Well I'll be damned, Joey." A pause, and she caught the scent of tobacco in the air, "Captain America. We'll make a killing off of him, I'd say business will be booming boys."</p>
<p><em> Captain America? </em> Captain <em> fucking </em>America!? How the hell--were the other people with her Avengers too? Maybe they'd gotten a lot of Avengers. But she wasn't an Avenger, so why was she here? And--</p>
<p>"That's not all," a man said, cutting across her thoughts, and moving. Moving closer to <em> her </em>cage. She tried to steel her gaze as the blanket covering her cage was lifted up, suddenly allowing for the men to look at her. She felt frozen by the stares, some hungry, others confused or intrigued, and it took all of her self control not to start crying and shaking.</p>
<p>"Well, aren't you a pretty thing," the man with the cigarette cooed as he knelt down in front of the cage, poking his finger through the bars. With a sudden burst of fear and anger, she kicked at the door, glad to see him quickly retract his finger and shake off the pain from her blow, not that he seemed to care that much. Smiling, he asked, "What's so special about this one? I mean, sure, she's a cutie, but she couldn't even break through the cage."</p>
<p>"She just got another round of drugs, she would've broken out by now if she didn't have them."</p>
<p>"So she's strong?"</p>
<p>"She's <em> Spider-Woman." </em></p>
<p>Great. So they did know. But now she didn't think the other Avengers were here. The Scarlet With was a lot more impressive than her, no way <em> she </em> was the one they'd all be interested in if the superhero was here.</p>
<p>"Spider-Woman?" the boss repeated, sounding curious and cautious, "I thought she was with Stark, if he comes down here looking for her it's all our asses on the line, Joey. Do you want to deal with the boss, 'cause I sure don't!"</p>
<p>She wanted to tell him that the man wasn't looking for her, for no other reason than that talking always calmed her down, but the gag prevented her from doing so.</p>
<p>"No, sir--I mean, I know, sir. But it won't be a problem. The two had a spat <em> just </em>before we got her, he took back all his tech and everything. I doubt he'll be looking for her."</p>
<p>The boss looked between her and what she assumed was Captain America's cage before shaking his head, smirking in triumph, "Well, I guess we've got two superheros, boys. Now load everybody off, the cops just drove by but I'm sure they'll be back soon and I don't want them catching whiff of anything."</p>
<p>The blanket had been replaced over her cage and she'd been left alone, listening as the other cages were moved, until hers had finally been jostled and moved out of the truck. She thought she was put on some weird trolley thing, the wheels rumbling against the rough ground. She tried to take in where she was, but her hearing was still not as good as it should be, and being shrouded in complete darkness only made her feel more trapped.</p>
<p>Penny tried to keep track of her settings shifting, but it was near impossible, and the only things she could make out were heartbeats--lots of them--the men around her grumbling and joking, and the distant sound of police sirens somewhere. Well, at least that was familiar to New York.</p>
<p>Her cage was jumbled around again as she was taken off of the pulley and placed on the floor, the scraping of metal against concrete letting her know that the same was happening to the other cages. She still couldn't see anything, and had to wait in agonizing darkness as cage doors were opened, people were taken out--generally with a punch or two thrown their way--and then they were led away. She both agonized for and dreaded when it would be her turn.</p>
<p>The teen listened intently as the cage next to her was opened up, the small whining of the metal catching her attention, and she forced herself to listen to the person's heartbeat. It was strong and steady--probably the strongest heart she'd ever heard--and barely panicked at all, beating slow instead of fast. <em> Captain America. </em></p>
<p>Penny listened as a man yelled at the Avenger, his words biting and taunting, and she flinched at every sound of one of her heroes getting hit. but he never said a word back, barely made a sound until he too was led away to wherever everyone was being taken. Now it was just her in the room. her and her captors.</p>
<p>She didn't want to be alone.</p>
<p>The girl steeled herself. She could be like Captain America, calm and unprovoked. She could be the superhero Mr. Stark had said he'd thought she could be...she could do it.</p>
<p>The blanket was thrown off of her cage, and she flinched unwillingly at the harsh yellow light, blinking as she made out the room and the figures in front of her.</p>
<p>The room was rather sparse, with a table at one end of the room that looked as though it had an abandoned game of poker on it and multiple cans of beer being stacked into a pyramid. Other than that there were a couple abstract paintings hung on the concrete walls, which made her think they were underground.</p>
<p>Besides the basically no furniture, there were also six men occupying the room. All carried guns, either in their hands and on their hips, as they surveyed her with stony stares and twisted smiles that made her stomach churn and her spine prickle. She couldn't do it. She wanted to go home and be with May and be anywhere but <em> here. </em></p>
<p>"Out," one man ordered, the door of her cage swinging open with a small creak. Hesitantly, Penny managed to crawl out, but the moment her head peaked out of the too-small-to-stand cage, she felt her senses go off dully just as a hand grabbed a fistful of her hand. She grunted in pain as she was pulled to her feet, stumbling when her back scraped against the top of the cage door. The hand didn't let go of her hair even as she stood up though, only lifted her head higher, forcing her onto her tiptoes making tears prick at her eyes from the pain.</p>
<p>"Ohhh, aren't you a cutie," a different man crooned as he approached her. She tried to move, but her flip flops did little for grip and she found herself uselessly struggling. The man approaching only smiled, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him, "I wouldn't do that. Struggling only gets you killed. But find yourself lucky and you'll spend a night with me."</p>
<p>She flinched, but forced herself to still. She didn't want--she couldn't be--</p>
<p>He was drunk. He was drunk and she was strong and she'd be okay. She'd have to be. She was Spider-Woman! ...But she didn't have the suit, so what really could she do? She couldn't stop the Vulture, she couldn't save those people, and she couldn't do anything right. But she had to be able to get herself out of here! She had to save these people, with or without the suit, and openly fighting and rebelling, well, it wouldn't help.</p>
<p>"Good girl," the man who gripped her hair murmured, his breath stale with cheap beer, hot and awful on her face.</p>
<p>"Wrap it up, Jax," said a different man, and Jax's expression went from hungry to disgruntled, "They're all supposed to be catalogued and put in their rooms before 11:30."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I <em> know, </em>Jacob. I can finish up before then, just give me a--"</p>
<p>"It's 11:28. Give her her clothes and then we'll put her in the appropriate cell."</p>
<p>"Don't we have to know her powers for that first?" another man chimed in.</p>
<p>"She's Spider-Woman. Just put super-strength and wall crawling and move on," Jacob responded, "I don't want to be late again. So just take her to the cell."</p>
<p>"Who's taking her? I took the last one."</p>
<p>There were a few moments of reluctant silence, before Jax grumbled, "I'll take her. Which cell?"</p>
<p>She missed what someone else responded with, instead focusing on trying to keep herself from shaking. She didn't want to be alone with him. She didn't want to be alone with anybody. <em> She didn't want to be here. </em></p>
<p>But that didn't matter, did it? It didn't matter as clothes were shoved into her still tied hands, it didn't matter as she was pulled out of the room--by her hair still--it didn't matter when a hand pinched her lower back uncomfortably, and it didn't matter as they finally stopped outside a small, metal door.</p>
<p>With an angry expression, Jax let go of her back and banged his gun on the door, the metal against metal making a resounding echo down the long hallway filled with doors that all looked the same. He ordered in a throaty yell, "On the back wall, hands behind your head!"</p>
<p>He opened the door and threw her in, finally releasing her hair. She stumbled at being thrown, still too drugged to catch herself like she normally would, and practically falling into the arms of whoever else was in the cell smaller than a closet. Penny immediately scrambled back, grunting out in surprise through her gag, trying to get away as fast as she could and accidentally ramming her back into a corner, leaving a splintering crack.</p>
<p>She heard Jax behind her yell mockingly, "Have fun with your roommate!" And then the door was closed, plunging them into darkness only broken by the little bit of yellow light seeping under the door.</p>
<p>There was a moment of silence, filled by her heavy breathing as she tried to calm down. Her heart beat erratically fast, and it felt like it would never calm down, as if it were going fast enough to rival a hummingbird's wings. The other man's heartbeat though...it was slow and steady. It was calm. How was he so calm?</p>
<p>She drew her legs closer to herself as she heard him shift, squinting to try and make him out in the dark. But she found she didn't need to, recognizing him the instant he opened his mouth and started speaking to her in a soft voice.</p>
<p>"Hey, I'm Steve. I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?" he started. Steve Rogers. Captain America. She was okay. It was a superhero--like her. He wouldn't hurt her, not in the way she'd feared. She nodded a little in confirmation, not that she was sure he'd seen it, "Are you still tied up?"</p>
<p>"Ymmsg," she tried to answer, her voice muffled.</p>
<p>"Okay, I'm gonna come over and take your restraints off, alright?"</p>
<p>"Mmhmm," she hummed, doing her best to keep her heart from exploding as Mr. Rogers took a few steps further. She held her hands out, allowing for him to break the thick cuffs around her hands. There was a small <em> crack! </em>that echoed through the air as they split, and she could've leapt with joy at her hands finally being free. They were sore and soft from being contained so tightly for so long, but it didn't stop her from immediately using them to take her gag off, her fingers fumbling slightly.</p>
<p>"Thanks."</p>
<p>"You've got some thick cuffs there, kid," he commented, and she could make out his shadowy figure examining them. God, she couldn't wait for the drugs to completely wear off so she could see him better, "You must have some pretty crazy powers."</p>
<p>"Thanks," she rasped again, coughing slightly. She was thirsty, and hungry. Really hungry. Would they feed them? Surely they had to, but still... She shook her head slightly, instead focusing on rubbing her hands and trying to put some warmth into them, "Um, I'm Penny."</p>
<p>"Nice to meet you, Penny," Mr. Rogers greeted, sitting back down in his corner, though it was only two feet away from where she sat. What was this, the cupboard under the stairs? Why was it so small? "I'm guessing you've figured out I'm Captain America by now?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. I've had detention enough times to recognize your voice."</p>
<p>He grimaced, "They still show those?"</p>
<p>"That's all they show, Mr. Rogers."</p>
<p>She could see him smile a little at that, "Just Steve, kid."</p>
<p>"Oh, um, okay."</p>
<p>"So, where you from?"</p>
<p>She hesitated. Would he remember Spider-Woman was from Queens? Whatever, screw it, he already knew she was here, and it wasn't like she was really friends with Mr. Stark or anything, "Queens."</p>
<p>It clicked immediately, "Spider-Woman."</p>
<p>"Yep," she responded shyly, "Um, sorry for hitting you, that was my bad."</p>
<p>He didn't speak for a solid minute, and she was sure she'd offended him, that he didn't want to talk to her anymore now that she was the woman who had joined his enemy to beat him up instead of the fifteen year-old he'd been taking pity on, but then he did. His voice was low, laced with barely contained anger that made her hug the wall a little closer.</p>
<p>"How old are you?"</p>
<p>She hesitated before answering, "I turned fifteen a month ago."</p>
<p>He swore, "Fourteen. You were fourteen and I--and Tony--Goddammit!"</p>
<p>Penny wanted to say something, wanted to defend Mr. Stark, but the truth was she wasn't sure what she'd say. Yeah, she'd agreed to go, but it's not like she'd really understood (she was only <em> now </em>finally starting to learn about the Sokovia Accords), and it didn't really make it like, not illegal. But Captain America had gone crazy! Hadn't he?</p>
<p>Mr. Rogers sighed, "I'm sorry, kid."</p>
<p>"For what?" she asked, confused.</p>
<p>"Well, for hitting you for one."</p>
<p>"I think that's the point of a battle, Mr. Rogers."</p>
<p>He chuckled, "I suppose so. But I'm still sorry for hitting you, I wouldn't have done that if I knew you were a kid."</p>
<p>"It's fine," she muttered, clearing her throat, "Uh, no offense, but like, how did you get captured?"</p>
<p>"It's a rescue mission," he responded, and she felt her heart leap in joy. A rescue mission! She'd be okay, she'd be okay, "I'm doing recon, getting inside since we can't really just raid the place."</p>
<p>"Why not?"</p>
<p>"Too noticeable. It'd attract police and make a big show of everything, we might not be able to get away. It's too much of a risk, for the people in here too. If they knew they were going to get caught they'd likely try to kill as many people in here as they could, make it look like a freak accident, and get away with it."</p>
<p>"Oh."</p>
<p>"What about you? How'd they get you?" he asked. She shifted uneasily.</p>
<p>"Oh, um, I just wasn't really paying attention, and I was in an alleyway by myself. They hit me with some drug-dart-thing, and then I woke up in that truck."</p>
<p>Mr. Rogers hummed, and she sensed heavy hesitation in his voice as he cleared his throat and said, "They said something about you and Tony? About having a fight?"</p>
<p>Penny immediately cringed, glad he couldn't see her face, "We didn't, well, we didn't like <em> actually </em>fight. He, um--I made a bad decision, pretty bad, actually. He was mad, so he took the suit back. So, like, no punching or anything, but I don't think he's ever going to talk to me again."</p>
<p>Mr. Rogers didn't have much to say to that, staying silent for a few seconds, before just saying, "I think you'd be surprised."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Reckless</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>eyyyyy next chapterrrrrrrr</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nervousness thrummed in Penny's chest, as rapid and loud as the crowd on the other side of the door. She clenched her jaw, wishing for the millionth time that she was back home in New York, that she'd made her way home. But wishing would do nothing. It wouldn't get her home, and it certainly wouldn't get her through the fight ahead.</p><p>With a lack of anything to do while she waited, Penny observed the room anxiously. It was glaringly bright, with a multitude of guards carrying guns the size of a mammoth. A few even had some alien powered ones, and she had to look away from the purple glow to keep herself even slightly calm. There were other chained mutants or enhanced or whatever in the room with her, the number of them overpowering the guards, yet no one dared to make a move against them. And neither did Penny.</p><p>Trying to distract herself, the teenager pondered on the different suits given. She, among many others, wore a mottled gray one-piece that clung to her skin obsessively in some places, bagging and wrinkling in others. It was thicker than her actual suit, with protective padding around her shoulders and chest, though much less comfortable. It was scratchy, bothering her sensitive skin. But that wasn't what interested her about the suits.</p><p>Among the twenty people waiting to fight, about six wore brightly colored suits, clearly tailored and made for them, if the way they fit snuggly was any indication. They also wore symbols on their shoulders and chests--in contrast to the number stitched onto her suit--like some sick imitation of the Avengers suits. She couldn't deny that it unnerved her. And the suits made her wonder how long these people had been here. Surely the customized suits were a privilege, maybe for being a good fighter or something.</p><p>By now, Penny had discerned at least a little of what was going on--superhearing was both a blessing and a curse--and had connected it to something similar to dog fights. Or like...underground boxing. She was trying to grunge up information from shows and movies she'd watched, and Mr. Rogers hadn't really told her much while they'd been sitting in their shared cell. To be fair, she hadn't really asked. So, she was currently kidnapped in what she thought was an underground mutant fighting ring. Overall, she was having a <em> great </em>time.</p><p>Distracted by her own pondering thoughts, Penny didn't notice as a number was called. She was forced to notice when her cuffs were tugged harshly, and the number was called again, this time angrily.</p><p>"103! Step forward!" the man closest to the door called, his face already red with anger from her daring to accidentally ignore her once. She'd found the people here were short-tempered, to say the least.</p><p>Penny did take a step forward, though not of her own volition. The guard that had loosely been holding the chain attached to her new and thick cuffs pulled harshly. Her senses spiked dully in response, and she kept herself upright easily even as she stumbled. Nervousness rattled her chest at the movement, and she swallowed thickly as she was pulled forward farther.</p><p>She guessed it was her turn.</p><p>Penny's head swiveled as she tried to find Steve from where he'd been waiting in the room with her. She made eye contact with him for a brief second, his blue eyes piercing and concerned, but she was pulled forward again and forced to turn.</p><p>That was fine. She'd be fine. She was a great fighter! She'd fought the Avengers, and the flying vulture guy, and she dealt with criminals everyday. Sure, they weren't superpowered, but it had to count for something, right? And she'd taken on Captain America and the Winter Soldier and the Falcon with no problem. Suddenly, Mr. Stark's words flooded her ears at the thought.</p><p>
  <em> 'If Cap had wanted to lay you out, he would have.' </em>
</p><p>Well, shit. She was not prepared for this. She was a good fighter; she was strong and quick. But she wouldn't be strong and quick enough for whatever awaited her on the other side of the door. It wasn't like she had a choice though, as was made apparent once again by the tug on her handcuffs. The small teenager forced in a gasping breath as the nondescript gray door was opened, revealing the crowd she'd been listening to all night.</p><p>The room was warmly lit, a red glow bathing everything as though she were looking through a ruby. The patrons in the room chattered, their words muddled and indistinct, but no less nerve-wracking. Mostly men made up the crowd, and it almost looked like a formal event thanks to the blazers and suit jackets paired with nice dress shoes. Though she guessed by the police officer still in their uniform, there was no formal attire.</p><p>More eye catching than the darkly lit room or the chattering patrons, was the cage that sat in the middle of the room. It was raised a few feet off of the ground on polished wood, both the wood and the metal chain links of the cage glinting in the light. The cage itself didn't really have bars, save for the four corners, and instead was made up of chain links that had about the same spacing of a soccer goal, the chain reaching all the way up to the ceiling in a tent-like fashion. On the same height as the cage was raised, were two catwalks leading towards the chained confine, narrow and without bars.</p><p>Penny gaped slightly at the scene in front of her, narrowing her eyes as she tried to make sense of the situation. There was honestly just a lot going on, all overwhelming and slightly terrifying. Well, a lot terrifying, but she was pretty good at pushing through. Still, this was all amazingly confusing.</p><p>The purpose of the catwalks became more clear when she caught sight of the figure on the opposite narrow. They studied her intensely as she stepped onto the platform. She guessed this was who she was fighting, and, looking the woman up and down, she couldn't say she was excited.</p><p>The woman was tall, with broad, muscular shoulders. She had an intimidating face, with high cheekbones and slanted eyes, and unlike many of the other prisoners she'd seen so far, this woman looked relatively well cared for. Sure, her face was thin and her eyes gaunt, but she was clean and kempt, and Penny guessed it had something to do with the burgundy suit she was wearing.</p><p>Penny swallowed. This woman obviously knew how to hold her own in a fight, and she could only be grateful for the fact that they weren't fights to the death. Well, she was pretty sure of that anyway. She didn't think it'd be sustainable business if it was...she wasn't going to like, die, right now, right? Right?</p><p>She wasn't allowed to think about it much more, as the man holding her chain began marching forward. The chattering below her ceased for a tense moment, but only a moment, before starting back up again with excitement. The noise was oppressive, surrounding her like a brick wall, clinging to her skin so hard it left bruises. But she kept walking, because what else could she do? The room was much too busy, with way too many guards to escape. Besides, if she left now, who would she be helping other than herself? Mr. Rogers had a plan, and she could help him and everyone else escape!</p><p>She just had to live through this fight first.</p><p>The cage door was opened, her cuffs removed, and she was shoved in, the metal clanging shut behind her resoundingly. The other woman stepped into the cage, Penny noted with much less force, and the door was locked behind them. The teenager immediately tensed into a defensive position, watching the woman warily. She gave her a wry smile.</p><p>"Please welcome back to the ring, The Bounder!" called a man over the crowd in excitement, gesturing to the woman in burgundy. There were several cheers and claps, along with wolf whistles that made Penny nervous. Then, gesturing to her, he announced, "And the newcomer, the Spinneret of New York, Spider-Woman!"</p><p>The calling of her own name was met with boos instead. Clearly she wasn't that popular. The wolf whistles were still there though, much to her <em> great </em> delight.</p><p>"Get ready for this cat fight, and pray you've placed your bet on the better woman!" the announcer said, and her face twitched in annoyance. The Bounder readied herself in anticipation, holding her fists out defensively and tensing her legs. Penny copied her hesitantly, glancing out at the crowd, "Three, two, one. FIGHT!"</p><p>Nobody moved at first. The Bounder was clearly waiting for her to make a move, beginning to circle around defensively. Penny took a step in a circle as well, biting her lip and trying not to stumble from the eyes all glued to her.</p><p>"Um, hi," she greeted, still circling but giving a little wave. No response, but it didn't stop Penny from still trying to make peace, "I don't really want to hurt you. If--"</p><p>A fist swung her way.</p><p>Penny dodged out of the way, sidestepping easily as a leg came towards her own, and repositioning herself. The Bounder drew her arms back at her unsuccessful attack, circling around once again. Well, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.</p><p>"Anyway. As I was saying, I was more hoping that we <em> wouldn't </em>start hitting each other. It's generally what you don't want to do for women supporting other wo--" She barreled forward, and this time Penny had to jump out of the way, bounding over her head and landing nimbly on the opposite side of where she'd just been, landing in a spread out crouch, "Okay, never mind. I don't think talking's really your thing."</p><p>The Bounder ran at her again, her eyes alight with fury and a desperate kind of hunger that sent a shiver down her spine, or maybe it was her sixth sense. Either way, Penny was reduced to leaping around. Jump after jump after jump. The Bounder wasn't exceedingly fast, and Penny moved too quickly for the woman to really come close, until she did.</p><p>Growing too comfortable with how little fighting was being done in this fight, Penny didn't notice the Bounder's fake-pass, letting out a cry of pain as a fist met her nose. Immediately her eyes watered, but she managed to catch herself as she was flung backwards with the force, grasping onto the chains of the cage and resisting the urge to rub at her nose or stare at the red that was surely now dripping down her chin. The woman in front of her was much more interesting anyway.</p><p>The woman in the burgundy suit's skin was no longer rich and dark, but instead shiny and glinting silver, as though she were now made out of metal. Which...was she? She must be, or else that punch wouldn't have hurt so much, and ever since her powers it'd been a lot harder to get a bloody nose out of her.</p><p>Well, now she knew the Bounder's powers, and she supposed it could be worse.</p><p>Glancing at her blood on the ground, the teenager's gaze grew resolute, a grim acceptance swimming in her eyes. There was no way to avoid a fight, at least not now. She was going to have to go on the offensive if she wanted to get through any of this, and especially a woman who could turn her whole body to steel.</p><p>Swiftly, Penny leaped off of the chain wall she'd been clinging to, aiming a kick at the Bounder's face. The woman ducked, but she wasn't quick enough, and still got nicked on the forehead. Due to her still-metal-state, she didn't stumble as much as a normal person might have, instead just grunting and stepping back. There was a resounding <em> clang! </em>from her boot against their iron head.</p><p>Penny grasped onto the other chain wall, twisting around and attacking again, this time ducking towards the legs with as much force as she could possibly muster for how tired she was. The Bouncer didn't turn fast enough to avoid her all together at Penny's attempt to unbalance her, but the woman wasn't all out of moves.</p><p>As Penny hit her legs, expecting the same strength and durability as she had hit earlier, but instead her opponent's legs wobbled, quavering as they completely absorbed the blow. Shocked, Penny glanced up at the woman, gaping at her now pinkish-red skin. The woman smiled.</p><p>"Try again."</p><p>Her face turned gold, and a solid metal leg kicked her in the stomach.</p><p>Penny gasped out as the blow propelled her a few feet forward. Flying with the motion, she managed to turn it into a messy tumble and spring back onto her feet just in time to move out of the way of the Bounder's next attack. The golden woman's fist missed her by a hair.</p><p>Spider-Woman twisted on her feet, her stickiness keeping her slipping, and, quick as a whip, she leaped at the Bounder. The woman barely had a moment to tense into a different material, her skin half-way between pinkish red and a deep bronze as her thighs wrapped around her opponent's neck. The woman was flung to the ground, and, dizzy, it was all Penny could do to make the Bounder land before she did.</p><p>The few seconds she'd bided herself were fruitless. She jumped up, intending to leap back onto the ceiling, but a grasp of fingers clasped around her ankle, biting into her skin and she was pulled out of the air. She slammed onto the ground, grunting as a puff of air left her chest, but she wasn't allowed to rest on the concrete.</p><p>She was slammed into the other wall, her body connecting with chains, but she managed to loop a few fingers into the chains. Her strength was leaving her, however, and she was unable to escape the Bounder. Punch after punch after punch rained down on her face, metal against hot bloody skin. She could faintly hear cheers from around her, shouts of joy for her opponent.</p><p>Penny felt her nose <em>crack! </em>and she tensed. Her heart raced, fear flowed through her veins in a way that made her feel cold, and on instinct, she pulled up her legs and kicked as hard as she could.</p><p>The woman's body flew, and when she hit the ground, she didn't get back up.</p><p>Penny gasped in heavy breaths, the blood dripping from her nose and the cut on her cheek was salty as it trickled into her mouth. She sniffled, wiping away what felt like lava on her skin and straightened up, letting go of the heavy chains she'd been clinging to. All at once, she became aware.</p><p>The crowd was roaring, crazed and confused. She heard swears, from lost bets no doubt, surprised gawks and cries making themselves heard by their sheer intensity. Wolf whistles cut through the air in a way that made her flinch, the only movement she could achieve now that all eyes were on her, and she was left frozen in terror.</p><p>Over the howl of the crowd, came the same voice from earlier, announcing, "Let's welcome our new winner, the Spinneret! Beginner's luck, or a possible new crowd favorite? You'll decide on your bets tomorrow night!"</p><p>Tomorrow night.</p><p>The haggard teenager glanced at the unconscious woman and then back at the crowd. She needed to get out of here. She wanted to be at home, anywhere--<em> anywhere-- </em>but here. But guards were already coming to collect their beaten quarry, and she knew there was no escape. Not now, and not without everyone else.</p><p>With one last decisive look at the knocked out woman, Penny dropped down from the top of the cage, flipping with a dramatic flair. They wanted a performance, they'd get a performance. She got the feeling that favorites got preferential treatment, and her flip excited more gasps and cheers from the crowd. It was all she could do to keep from flinching at their howling, and all she could do to swallow down sick when metal clamped back around her wrists.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Penny Parker was a curious person.</p><p>There were a number of reasons that had led Steve to this very obvious conclusion. The first, and most glaring, being that she was Spider-Woman. Now, Steve had seen so many strange things in his life that, for the most part, it didn't affect him that a fifteen year-old was a spider themed vigilante. The fifteen year-old part definitely still upset him, but after seeing her fight in Germany, and after seeing her be kidnapped and not only survive but win her first fight, he had managed to get over it. At least for now.</p><p>After first meeting the girl, Steve didn't quite get why Tony, out of the plenty of vigilantes and enhanceds in New York alone, had chosen her, but now he kind've got it. Despite having been practically pummeled for others' entertainment, she was calm and focused. Tired and shaken for sure, but calm nonetheless.</p><p>Once the super soldier had finished his own fight, a rather quick brawl with a failed replica of his own serum, he'd been dumped back into his and the kid's little closet they called home. The teenager had been gifted a thin peanut butter sandwich for her earlier efforts, and he guessed by the trails of blood dried to her face, that it had been a tough one.</p><p>The door had slammed shut behind him, and the girl had finally spoken up, "Hey, Mr. Rogers. How was your day?"</p><p>The childishness of the question had dragged a smile to his lips and a light from his eyes, "Pretty good. I got my workout in and everything."</p><p>"Same! But I could've taken a lazy day if I'm being honest."</p><p>"You and me both, kid."</p><p>She'd offered half of her sandwich, and he'd only managed to fend off her pestering by agreeing to a bite and leaving the rest of the meager meal to the starved teenager. That had been about a week ago now, and Steve had never been more ready for a mission to end. Yet, slow and steady wins the race, or in this case, saves the most lives. Though he wasn't quite sure if Penny was going to make it for another two weeks.</p><p>Not only did all the guards despise her by now, but so did a lot of the other inmates. She was too forward for both of their likings, and it was all Steve could do to keep her from talking whenever they were around other people, and believe him, it was a <em> struggle. </em>Despite her small frame and lingering strength, the teenager was as strong and bright as when he'd met her in Germany, and he just couldn't understand how Tony could've ever gotten into a fight with the small bundle of joy that had recently taken to dozing off on his shoulder.</p><p>And then he did.</p><p>He should've been paying more attention, but he couldn't deny that the lack of nutrition had been wearing him down, so he'd taken to dozing while waiting to be led to his fight. He usually had multiple a night, and needed any extra energy he could gain. He wished he'd trusted Tony's judgement more, because when he finally saw how brash Penny could be, he would've preferred to be prepared.</p><p>An angry scream jostled him awake, and before he could even begin to regain his bearings, yells and screams were already resounding around the walls. He was on his feet in an instant, taking in the boisterous crowd chanting excitedly in front of him. And no Penny to be found.</p><p>After being here for a week, they'd relaxed on the chains, allowing them to be like the rest of the people in the room. Tired, lost, and unwilling to fight back. At least, that was how they perceived Steve at the moment, and Penny too, who often stuck to his side like glue. So waking up, confused and jostled, with Penny nowhere in sight, it was frightening beyond words.</p><p>"BREAK IT UP!! OUT OF THE WAY!!" screamed a guard, attempting to muscle his way through the crowd, and keeping his head low be damned, Steve followed suit. He had a gut wrenching feeling about this.</p><p>The throng of bodies were hot and frantic, a wall of energy that felt like swimming through lava, almost impossible to break through. Almost.</p><p>Tall and wide-shouldered, Steve managed to make his way through the crowd, eyes widening as he caught sight of what was the source of the upheaval. Despite not having fought yet, Penny already had a bloody nose, and her eyes were furious in a way he hadn't seen on the girl, she was practically snarling. A glance at a woman sprawled on the ground behind her, scrambling to get up and away told him why.</p><p>The man across from the teenager, though more armored and obviously much healthier than the kidnapped girl in front of him, was looking much worse for wear. Then again, that was generally what happened when someone ended up in a fight with someone that could lift a bus without breaking a sweat.</p><p>The guard's face was turning red with rage, beginning to match with the bright scarlet dripping down his temple. The two circled around each other like they were in the ring, but this wasn't the ring, because this person had a weapon. This person looked ready to kill. This person could kill the girl in front of him and get away with it as though nothing had happened. And he wasn't going to let that happen.</p><p>Continuing to push his way forward, the super soldier watched in horror as the guard drew his cattle prod. And Penny had nowhere to escape to, not with the crowd closing in, not with the guards outside the ring drawing guns. As quick as he could, he rushed through the last of the crowd and grabbed Penny. Looking back on it, he shouldn't have done it. If he hadn't been there, maybe she would've been quick enough to move, prepared instead of surprised. As it was, they couldn't avoid the agony.</p><p>Just as his hand connected with her arm, so did the cattle prod, and that's when he realized this wasn't some normal cattle prod. He'd expected a strong jolt to hit <em> Penny, </em> for her to be in pain if it touched her, her screams accompanied with the sound of a buzzing vibration. What he didn't expect was for him to be affected too, and just how much it would <em> hurt. </em></p><p>The pain was scorching, despite the fact that the cattle prod hadn't even touched him and was instead latched onto Penny's collar. The cattle prod itself created a screeching noise that blurred with Penny's shrieks of pain and his own gagged grunts. He wasn't sure how long the cattle prod was held to the kid's neck, but when it was finally removed, it was all Steve could do to not fall over.</p><p>His knees wobbled, but he stood steady, managing to catch the teenager as she collapsed into his arms with a sob of pain.</p><p>"Freak," the guard spat, and as the hysteria died down the crowd dispersed, allowing the rest of the guards to run to their friend's side and glower at the superheroes with haughty and disgusted expressions.</p><p>Penny managed to get back to her feet, and despite her shakiness, raised her chin defiantly. Steve just wished she'd sit down.</p><p>"Get back to your corner, and stay there until it's your turn," an older guard ordered, a threat clear in his voice, "We'll deal with you later."</p><p>Steve began to lead Penny back to their corner, thinking of everything he would say to scold her; about fighting, about leaving his side, about being so unbelievably <em> reckless-- </em></p><p>"102! 102 in the ring! Now!"</p><p>He let out a distressed sigh, but reluctantly let go of Penny's shoulder. She looked up at him with wide eyes, a plea, but he was already gone, reluctantly leaving the shaking girl behind.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>When Steve saw Penny again later that night, after all the patrons had left, her face was so bloody and bruised he barely recognized her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i HATE fight scenes with a goddamn passion this suCKED</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Searching</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Three days. It had been three days since May Parker had filed a missing person's report. Three days since her niece's school had called saying she wasn't there. Three days since everything had fallen apart.</p>
<p>All things considered, May thought she was doing alright. The apartment was clean, there was an array of newly burnt foods occupying the fridge, and she'd be going back to work today. That was something. But it didn't feel like enough. Nothing felt like it was enough, not when Penny was missing. The woman sighed, checking her purse for what was probably the tenth time, dawdling purposefully. Going back to normal life while Penny was missing...it felt like a betrayal.</p>
<p>May took one last moment to compose herself before slinging her workbag over her shoulder and heading towards the door. She practically ripped it open, only narrowly avoiding the fist that had been raised to her door. She jumped back in confusion and fright, staring at Tony Stark.</p>
<p>He looked the same as when he'd first come to her apartment two months ago, sans the black eye. A sharp blazer, dark yet somehow without any fuzz or lint on it, draped over a shirt with a cheesy pun she couldn't even bare to look at. It reminded her too much of Penny.</p>
<p>"Mrs. Parker," Tony Stark said, recovering quickly from his shock.</p>
<p>"Hello, Mr. Stark," she greeted a little distantly, pushing her hair behind her ear. She just wanted to move on with her day, "Um, Penny's...Penny's not here if you haven't heard--"</p>
<p>"I've heard," he interrupted, "I'm...I'm sorry I didn't call or contact you sooner. My AI told me she was missing after you filed the missing person's report with the police, and I've been busy looking for her."</p>
<p>"Have you found anything?"</p>
<p>He shook his head, "Not yet. I'm doing some searching in the area, I just thought I'd drop by and...let you know I'm working on it. I'm gonna get that kid home. I promise."</p>
<p>May Parker wasn't a huge fan of Tony Stark, there hadn't been much reason to be. Sure, he was a superhero, but she'd seen plenty of evidence to suggest he was a bad role model for Penny, enough to make her a little nervous to leave her niece around him. Penny had only been nine when she'd giggled and showed her and Ben a video of Tony Stark, drunk as a skunk, peeing himself in his suit. But now, he could be her only hope of finding her niece. And Penny had been so much more <em> alive </em>after Stark had come to their apartment with an internship opportunity. The contrast between her girl after she'd picked her up from that police station so many months ago and the one who had last week danced around the apartment with excitement was stark. And it was Stark.</p>
<p>She guessed she'd just have to trust him.</p>
<p>"Thank you. Thank you so much."</p>
<p>His smile was soft and rueful, "I haven't done anything yet."</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>After visiting May Parker, Tony got back to work. Over the past couple of days he'd been flying throughout the city, sending out drones and trying to recreate the crime scene. If he could just figure out <em> what</em> had happened, he'd be able to find her. He was sure of it. Right now he was heading back to the area Penny had disappeared in. As he approached, holding out his repulsors to slow down, he expected to see the usual cop or two that he'd often seen taking notes or examining the area, he didn't expect to see a figure clad in a deep red.</p>
<p>The Devil of Hell's Kitchen stared at him as he approached, his black eyes dark and unnerving. Tony refrained from landing, instead staying in flight and holding out a hand threateningly. Friday locked onto Daredevil in response, and he was surprised to see the man didn't even move a muscle.</p>
<p>"What the hell are you doing here?" Tony demanded defensively.</p>
<p>Daredevil cocked his head at him, just gesturing around at the alleyway as though the answer was obvious, "I have contacts within the NYPD, I heard a girl had gone missing. And with Spider-Woman skipping Queens, I thought I'd check up on what she usually would."</p>
<p>"You know Spider-Woman?"</p>
<p>"We've helped each other out a few times," he said simply, leaving it at that. The man stared at a broken street camera stonily, as if it would hold all the answers he sought. Which it didn't. Tony had already checked, "She's missing, isn't she?"</p>
<p>"Yes," Tony said, hesitantly allowing for his suit to land and stepping out of it. He hadn't known that Penny had worked with Daredevil. She'd never mentioned it in her voicemails, so he'd just assumed the two had stuck to their respective territories and that that was that. Evidently, he'd been wrong. He'd been wrong about a lot recently.</p>
<p>"And this girl's gone too. Doesn't seem like much of a coincidence to me," Daredevil concluded, his voice deep and gravelly. Tony didn't respond, just watched as the man stalked around the alleyway, "Not much sign of a struggle, they must have really got the jump on her or she must have been incredibly distracted to get her. And the drugs they would have had to have..."</p>
<p>The vigilante tilted his head upwards a little, and Tony couldn't deny he was unnerved by how this man moved. It was frustratingly calculated, as though every step was predetermined. Ignoring the man, he ran through the list of drugs that could have possibly taken out Penny in his head. Detrotoxin B was a possibility, but it was incredibly hard to get hold of. Maybe carfentanil. But the idea of something experimental terrified him the most.</p>
<p>Tony looked up at the sound of a confirming grunt, glaring over at Daredevil, who was rubbing his fingers together and sniffing them. The billionaire marched over to the Devil of Hell's Kitchen to see whatever was in his hand, but saw nothing but dust falling from his gloved fingers.</p>
<p>"Vinegar, slightly sweet smell..." Daredevil muttered so lightly that Tony barely heard him, "Well, I know the drug supplier."</p>
<p>"Great. Who?"</p>
<p>"Madame Gao. Her main trade is the purest heroin in the city, but she likes to dabble in experimental drugs. With the amount of mutants popping up, there's certainly been a high enough demand."</p>
<p>"So they trafficked her," Tony concluded, squinting at Daredevil's glove, finally able to see the thin layer of drugs coating his hand. He followed Daredevil's gaze to the wall, taking a swab out of his jacket and placing some in to examine later.</p>
<p>"Most likely."</p>
<p>That narrowed down a few options at least, not that it soothed any of the worry in his chest. Trafficking was horrible, and worse in some ways. If it had been just some asshole trying to get back at him, at least he'd be able to figure out who they were and where she was. This...this would take a while. She could be out of the country by now.</p>
<p>"Who does Madame Mim supply to?" Tony asked.</p>
<p>"That's a difficult question. She's had deals with Rand Enterprises, works with the Hand, and funnels supplies to everywhere in the country. She's got the market covered."</p>
<p>"Unhelpful. New question: Who do you know of that's trafficking mutants?"</p>
<p>Daredevil's expression was inscrutable thanks to his stony mask, but if Tony had to guess, he would say that the man was furrowing his brows as he searched through his brain for the answer. When he did answer, he sounded unsure for the first time.</p>
<p>"I can't be sure, but I think there's a trade down south in Louisiana. I can't tell you where exactly, or even who's running it, just a possible connection."</p>
<p>"Who?"</p>
<p>"Norman Osborn."</p>
<p>Tony froze.</p>
<p>He knew Osborn, of course, had been forced to many of his galas and fundraisers over the years, had even done deals with him on occasion, despite his deep dislike of the man. He knew Oscorp had bas business practices--which was part of why they didn't work together anymore--but he'd never expected trafficking <em>children.</em></p>
<p>"Osborn? You're sure?"</p>
<p>Daredevil nodded, "He's hard to keep track of, but I know he's been getting involved. His name's been popping up just about everywhere I go."</p>
<p>Tony sniffed at that, tucking the swab in his jacket, "Thank you. If you manage to find out where she is before I do, give Stark Industries a call. I'll be on the lookout."</p>
<p>He stepped back into his suit, giving Daredevil a thankful ad slightly mocking salute as he did. Now he was finally getting somewhere.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>"You're sure? Like, 100%, because this is the kind of thing we can't be wrong about."</p>
<p>"Eh, like 62%. It's not concrete, but if there's a chance that I can get this kid back home, I have to take it."</p>
<p>Rhodey stared at him, his arms crossed from where he sat as he awaited his new leg braces. He was getting a lot better at standing without support from a wall or a person, but his braces had yet to catch up with his will.</p>
<p>"So we're, what? Hacking into Oscorp because of a lead from a <em>vigilante</em> that we don't know, from his <em>'</em><em>whispers on the street?'"</em></p>
<p>Tony sighed, "I know it's a long shot, I know it is, but--look." He waved his hand and a picture of Penny popped up between them. She smiled goofily at the camera, her grin wide and toothy, her caramel eyes squinting with amusement. It was all he could do to even glance at the picture, "She's fifteen and she's <em>gone </em>and I...I didn't look after her. I gave her a suit and just--<em>threw her out--</em>and now she's missing and I can't leave her, Rhodes."</p>
<p>Rhodey glanced away from the photo, his eyes somber as he stared up at him, "Okay, I get it. And I wasn't going to say no, Tones, you just have a tendency to jump head first into things without thinking about all the consequences. Getting caught and going on trial for hacking into someone's information for a mission for an illegal mutant is one thing you could definitely go to jail for. If Ross or Osborn had anything to say about it, anyway."</p>
<p>"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Also, stop saying 'hacking.' I don't know how many times I have to tell you people don't say that anymore."</p>
<p>"Y'know what, when we find the kid, I'm asking her opinion. I'm sick of yours."</p>
<p>"Teenagers aren't the height of language."</p>
<p>"But they are of popculture."</p>
<p>"Sure. Just help me, asshole."</p>
<p>Rhodey smiled, extended an arm that Tony gripped to help him out of the chair, "Fine. Just get me my new braces and we'll get to work."</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>James had seen Tony upset before. He's seen him panicked and scared and <em>lost, </em>but he'd never quite seen him like this. Despite the forced smoothness in his frame, there was an undulating terror in his eyes, hidden by the shield of his glasses that he wore even still in this dark room. This was a terror he hadn't seen since Pepper had been taken a few years ago, and it struck the colonel just how much Tony cared for this kid. Loved her.</p>
<p>The man hadn't been paying much attention to his friend and this kid he'd apparently adopted, but he'd sometimes stumble into the lab to hear remnants of a voicemail and a soft smile on Tony's worn lips, before it was immediately shut off with an overcompensating grin from his friend. The grin was fake, but the worn smile was not. It was something that Rhodey hadn't seen lately, not since the betrayal and subsequent departure of Steve, and it had been nice to see those rare smiles that the kid indirectly pulled out of Tony. And now with her gone...</p>
<p>James didn't know this kid, having only met them once during a less than ideal time to meet, but the idea of that sweet teen, of any kid, trafficked away to do who knows what--he shuddered to even think about it--it was a terror to even think about.</p>
<p>And a terror was what they were about to unleash on the man they were waiting for.</p>
<p>David Foremen was an NYPD officer, who, as it seemed, frequently took trips down to New Orleans by plane. Much too often for someone who made as much as a standard beat cop made. Norman Osborn's payments had explained that little debacle, but not what the man was doing down there for the billionaire or where to find Penny. They had a city, but hours of combing through footage had revealed nothing, they needed more, and Foremen could provide it. And he was about to.</p>
<p>Rhodey wasn't wearing glasses with x-ray vision like Tony was, but he could tell by the way his friend tensed that their suspect was about to enter the small apartment in Bronx. It was a rat's nest, junk littering the ground in a sea of must and mold. Water stains crept onto the walls and ceiling, the smell of cigarettes clinging to every surface and crevice in the room, so strong it had made his eyes water when he'd first stepped in twenty minutes ago. He wondered how fried Foremen's lungs were to be completely unaffected as he opened the door open, the jangle of keys the first sound that had been made in the thick silence.</p>
<p>Foremen was an average man. He was an average height, an average weight, an average face, and grunted out an average grumble of annoyance as he yanked his keys from the door handle, the door clicking shut behind him. The two Avengers waited, crouched in the corner, their eyes glinted in the dark of the night. Predators.</p>
<p>Foremen grabbed a beer from the dirty, stained fridge, and took his kit belt off, the metal of the gun thudding against the counter.</p>
<p>And prey.</p>
<p>Tony didn't say a word until the man approached the couch, finally revealing himself in the corner of the dim room, "Hey, Dave. Funny seeing you here."</p>
<p>The man jolted up before he could even sit down, swerving to look at the two men in the corner, Tony leaning against the wall nonchalantly and Rhodey resting his legs in a musty chair. The officer glanced over at the kitchen, where he gun sat, abandoned.</p>
<p>"I wouldn't try that," Rhodey warned, "Between you and me, the two of us have more firepower."</p>
<p>"This is trespassing, get off my property before I--"</p>
<p>"Before you what? Call your buddies down at the precinct and tell them Iron Man and War Machine knocked down your door?" Tony interrupted, "'Cause either two things will happen if you <em>somehow </em>manage to do that: They won't believe you, or they'll scatter because they know they've been found out, just like you have."</p>
<p>Foreman grimaced, barely managing to compose himself as he garbled, "I haven't done anything."</p>
<p>"Bold words to say to two pissed off Avengers," Rhodey said, "And bold words to say to people who know <em>exactly </em>what you did. All we need to know is where she is, and you leave without a broken body."</p>
<p>"Where who is? I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but you've got the wrong--"</p>
<p>"I'm gonna stop you right there, Dave." Tony held up a hand, "October 12th, I take Spider-Woman's suit back. October 12th, Spider-Woman goes missing. <em>October 12th </em>you take a flight to New Orleans and come back with a fat wad of cash in your bank after only a day. We know you were in on it, and we know she's in New Orleans. So, there are two ways this can go. Either you tell us where they're keeping her with <em>minimal </em>damage, or, well...you're a cop. I'm sure you know what can happen when you don't talk."</p>
<p>Foremen's eyes flitted between the two, but surprisingly he stood his ground, "I'm not telling you anything."</p>
<p>He and Tony exchanged glances.</p>
<p>"I guess we're doing this the hard way."</p>
<p>When they left that apartment, they left with a name only. The Starry Lights Hotel.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>:ooooooooooo</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Little Spider</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Rough night?"</p>
<p>Penny glanced up at him from where she sat on the floor. Her left eyes bruised a deep shade of purple that he was sure would be gone by the next night, a line of blood running down a split in her lip where it had dribbled all the way down her chin to stain her unkempt gray suit. Despite being here for nearly a week and a half, there had so far been no showers or change of clothes permitted. As such, both of them looked and smelled terrible, Penny's hair a frizzy mess and Steve's once bright blonde, dark with dirt. His beard was becoming a bit of a bushy hazard, and he wondered if he should've shaved before starting this mission.</p>
<p>"You could say that," the kid responded with a gentle sniff, prodding her nose. It didn't look like it'd been broken again, but it definitely seemed like a sore spot. He sat down beside her, glad for the small amount of light they were being provided now that they'd been here longer, not that it was much. He still had to strain his eyes to make out the dull closet they were roomed in. As he sat down beside her, his muscles straining with the effort, Penny asked, "How was your night? I saw the guy you were up against, he looked pretty tough."</p>
<p>"Not tough enough for me, kid," he responded, crossing his arms against the cold, wincing when they rested atop the bruises that he was sure were darkening nicely. They'd been pretty tough, "What about you?"</p>
<p>"Not too bad, but, uh, my head really hurts."</p>
<p>He straightened in alarm, touching her forehead gingerly and beginning to search for bruises or bumps in her mess of hair, "Where were you hit? It doesn't look bad, but we can't get a doctor--"</p>
<p>"No, I didn't get hit. I just have a headache."</p>
<p>"Oh. Well, they'll bring water around in an hour or so. Do you want me to turn the light off?" She didn't make a noise, just stared ahead at the wall in front of her. Her eyes were intense and focused in a way he hadn't seen before, "Kid?" Still no response. He bumped his shoulder into hers gently. She blinked, faltering when she looked away from the wall and at him instead, "Are you okay?"</p>
<p>"Sorry, yeah, just--never mind."</p>
<p>"It's okay. What is it, Pen?"</p>
<p>She hesitated, "Okay, so um, I have this, uh--this like, voice inside my head, but not really. It's like, a bad feeling that warns me of danger. It's how I realized Mr--Mr. Ant-Man? Mr. Ant?--uh, it's how I realized he was there, and how I dodge bullets and stuff." He blinked. He hadn't known she could do that, "It's basically just an, um, early warning system."</p>
<p>"Is it going off right now?" She nodded, "Okay. What does that usually mean?"</p>
<p>She shrugged, "I don't know, exactly. I never quite know what it's trying to tell me, I guess I just have a bad feeling."</p>
<p>"Okay, we'll leave it at that for now, alright?" He reached up and pulled the string on the dusty light bulb, plunging the room into darkness save for the harsh yellow under the door, "You just try and sleep. I'll wake you up when they deliver food and water."</p>
<p>"Thanks," she mumbled, leaning against his shoulder. It took her a good ten minutes to fall asleep, and by that point her nose was buried in his arm, her cold face pressed against his arm. Their times alone in their little closet room was the time he felt most calm. Not at peace, per say, but calmer than any other time here. He didn't know what it was, but the fact that the kid was out of certain danger for the time being was definitely a factor.</p>
<p>He was wrong about her being safe.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny's headache hadn't dissipated by the time her eyes cracked open, if anything it'd worsened. Mr. Rogers had tapped her awake, and the pain of danger had been blinding, so much so that she was still blinking away misery as she sipped down a plastic cup of lukewarm water. The former Avenger sat beside her, chewing silently on a crumpled sandwich.</p>
<p>She was sure the reason for his narrow eyes and wide frowns were from her constant wary looks towards the door, and she wished she would stop being the catalyst for his worry, she couldn't shake the thrum of fear or repeated nagging that <em>something </em>was going to happen. Logically, she knew that she was always in danger in this place, but her senses had begun to coexist with the environment. Now though...she hadn't felt more afraid in here than now, and she wished she at least knew why.</p>
<p>And then she did.</p>
<p>She and Mr. Rogers had been done with their poor excuse for a meal for about ten minutes, and had begun settling down for the night--well, day, since they'd been 'working' all night--when there had been the most painful spike in her headache yet. She immediately clutched at her face, letting out a grunt of agony at the strong throb. Mr. Rogers placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.</p>
<p>"Kid? What's--"</p>
<p>Her eyes sprung open at the same time as the door.</p>
<p>Yellow light flooded the room, blinding Penny. As she put a hand up to shield her face, Mr. Rogers scooped her up and placed her behind him. She felt him tense in front of her, and she managed to squint her eyes open to make out the blurry scene in front of her.</p>
<p>Mr. Rogers had stood up, his hands balled into fists as he stood between her and the silhouetted figures at the door. She sprung up, not able to make her way around Mr. Rogers thanks to the narrowness of the room, but she did manage to recognize one of the men that had paused in front of her door.</p>
<p>Norman Osborn had a wide smile that curved up his face but stopped at his eyes, which stared ahead as though she were the only one in the room. His blue eyes shone unnaturally with a poisonous glint of greed and pride. She'd never before personally seen the man that had been the cause of her superpowers, and she wished it had stayed that way. She didn't like the way he looked at her, and she didn't like the way her senses <em>banged </em>at the back of her head. She wished she could escape this moment, this man, but she could do nothing but be shielded by Captain America.</p>
<p>"Ah, my little spider. It's so good to see you again," the billionaire said with a writhing smile. A shiver ran up her spine. See her again? She furrowed her brows in confusion.</p>
<p>The teenager opened her mouth to say something, but Mr. Rogers shoved her back and gave her a silencing look, instead demanding of the man, "What do you want?"</p>
<p>"Captain America, so nice to meet you. You know, your famous serum inspired what we were doing with the spiders? It really all does come full circle," Mr. Rogers didn't respond, "You Avengers sure do get defensive of that girl. I asked Stark just a month ago if I could see her, run a couple of tests on my subject, ever since he took her under his wing or whatever, and me and him have had spats, but that was a fight that ended any deals with our companies. Disappointing, but I ended up with my spider back either way."</p>
<p>Penny blinked at the mention of her former mentor. She hadn't known he'd done that. Why had he done that? Surely he must have lost a lot of money, Oscorp was a super successful company. She just hoped he hadn't lost a friend, not that she was sure Iron Man would be friends with the frankly very creepy man in front of her.</p>
<p>"That's weird. You do know how weird you sound, right?" Penny found herself saying. She could feel Mr. Rogers glare even though he wasn't looking at her.</p>
<p>"To a child, everything is weird."</p>
<p>"And to a billionaire, everything is his," Mr. Rogers snarked, "Go away. You're not taking her."</p>
<p>"You're not in much position to argue." She gripped onto Mr. Rogers' suit, for the first time allowing him to hide her. She didn't want to go. Mr. Rogers was safe, she was <em>safe</em> with him. She wouldn't be safe with Norman Osborn. Penny would rather fight here another year than go with that man.</p>
<p>But when had she ever gotten what she wanted?</p>
<p>"Take her, please," Osborn ordered. The two men that had been standing behind Osborn stepped into action.</p>
<p>One pulled the gun off of his hip and the other took out the alien powered cattle prod that lengthened to six feet tall in his arm. She tugged on Mr. Rogers arm as he took a step back, and she wanted so badly to be protected, to let him protect her and keep her safe, but as she studied the situation in front of her...Mr. Rogers was not going to win. Not in a way that mattered.</p>
<p>She knew he could take all of these men and then some, no problem. But he was on a mission, lives were on the line. Her safety, her life, wasn't worth the hundreds of people that Mr. Rogers was going to rescue. If he got killed or was forced to escape with her now--the mission would be a failure and the people here were doomed. No way they'd stay here with an escaped Avenger on the loose.</p>
<p>Hating herself for every stupid and reckless decision she had and was about to make, she took a deep breath and let go of Steve. Penny pushed out from under his arm, dodging as he reached out to stop her and coming to a halt in front of the billionaire in front of her. He smiled.</p>
<p>"Hm, more compliant than I thought you'd be," the man commented, fixing her in place with a calculating glare and a prickling hand on her chin. She wanted to pull away, but the fearfully quick heartbeat of her hero behind her kept her in place. She'd messed up at the Ferry, and she'd let Mr. Stark down, but she could help here, even if it meant she wouldn't be okay. These people were going to be. They were going to be safe.</p>
<p>Hauntingly familiar cuffs clamped down around her wrists, cold and tight and making her breath catch.</p>
<p>"Kid..." Steve whispered behind her. She turned to look at him, giving him the most reassuring smile she could, but it felt watery and fake even to her. She tried to keep eye contact with Steve, hoping that his calm blue eyes would keep her grounded, but when they were gone--trapped behind a metal door--there was nothing to hold onto except for her own fear.</p>
<p>Penny had walked down this hallway now a dozen times, but never had it felt this empty, the hallway so long. The men that had earlier been pointing their weapons at Steve now marched behind her, and she could feel the weapons directed at her as she walked behind Norman Osborn. Osborn himself stood straight as he led the reluctant party down the hallway, irritatingly prim and pristine in his dark suit while she stunk in a bloody gray suit that reeked of violence and stress.</p>
<p>"Where are you taking me?" she dared to ask after a moment, forcing her voice to stay steady and confident.</p>
<p>"Nowhere far," he assured, "You're doing quite well for yourself in the ring, even getting a shiny new suit and you've barely been here two weeks. That's a record, young lady. I don't want to take that from you, but you did take that spider from me. Unluckily, it was improperly marked and we don't know how to recreate, so until we do, you'll be our little test subject to uncovering your secrets."</p>
<p>Penny grimaced. Her skin prickled at the mention of the spider, a phantom pain throbbing on her wrist as she thought about the painful bite that had left her retching for hours on end.</p>
<p>"What do you even want a spider for?"</p>
<p>"That's a stupid question. Have you looked at yourself? Stronger than Captain America and stealthier than the Winter Soldier. The army would be <em>gracious </em>to have access to a new breed of super soldiers."</p>
<p>Okay, so maybe this had been a bad idea, but if Oscorp was stupid enough to leave a successful test subject marked incorrectly, then hopefully this would take them long enough that by the time the Rogue Avengers got here, no one would get hurt because of her DNA. They'd just have to destroy the research. Easy. As long as they kept it all in one place...which was unlikely. Shit.</p>
<p>Her eyes darted around the hallway, desperately looking for an escape, but every door was metal and led to nothing but other prisoners, no windows were in sight and she couldn't even find any stairs that led up. All there was was a large set of double doors sealed shut, looming and rusted.</p>
<p>"Okay my spider, time to learn what makes you tick."</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Steve paced around his tiny little room, turning around practically every two seconds to begin across the room again, trying desperately to release himself of the panic he was feeling. That stupid little--that idiot kid!! He should've known--she'd fought the guards, she'd done something <em>so reckless </em>that even Tony had put his foot down before. And now she had sacrificed herself for the mission. <em>The mission she wasn't even a part of. </em></p>
<p>He stopped for a moment, resting his forehead against the cool stone and punching his fist against the wall, leaving behind a small crater and a spider web of cracks. She'd been gone practically all day now, and he'd been able to do <em>nothing. </em>He couldn't leave his cage--he'd tried, but the door was reinforced and more than once guards had rushed in to taze him for the attempt--and he couldn't go rescue him. He wished he'd been able to keep his other end of the flip phone he'd given Tony, then at least he could call him and that little, sweet kid would be okay. The soldier didn't even know if he would see the teenager again.</p>
<p>It was another few hours before he finally did.</p>
<p>There was a pounding knock on his door, making him glance up from where he'd been burning a hole into the ground beneath him. A tiny bit of hope flourished in his chest as he stood up, watching anxiously as the door opened.</p>
<p>Yellow light silhouetted two figures in black shadow, one tall and upright while the other slumped and lolling. He barely had any time to react as the limp frame was thrown in. He caught Penny roughly, doing his best to keep her body from hitting the rough ground, but from the low groan that escaped the teenager, he didn't think he was very successful. The door closed, leaving him in darkness until he clicked on the lightbulb, bathing them in shallow light, unfortunately allowing him to see Penny clearly.</p>
<p>He swallowed down the meager meal he'd eaten earlier.</p>
<p>Little cuts littered her skin. There were slices in her arms, calculatingly placed down her wrists and a couple on her cheeks. They were still freshly pink and scabbing over, growing thinner by the minute. He was sure there were more cuts on her, but they were overshadowed by deep bruises, yellow ones littering her arms and a deep purple under her eyes. Her pale face glowed sickly yellow under the dusty fluorescent light, pale and shiny with sweat. If it weren't for the small rattling breath that wheezed from her lips, he would think she was dead.</p>
<p>"Hey, kid," he mumbled, curling her up in his arms gingerly, doing his best to support her head and rubbing some warmth into her back, "That was brave, you really kept up the fight for me. Just...take it easy for now, okay? No more sacrificing yourself for another couple of days. Alright?"</p>
<p>He didn't get a response other than her eyes fluttering open, staring up ahead as though she couldn't see him. It worried him for a moment--that they might have done something horrible to her eyes--but then she shifted, resting her cheek into his chest with a muttered, "Sorry, Steve. Don' know how muh' choice I have."</p>
<p>He huffed dryly, "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, kid. And I'm sorry it took all this for you to call me Steve."</p>
<p>She blinked, "Oh."</p>
<p>He shook his head in morose amusement, reaching up and turning the light off, "Just go to sleep. I'm not going anywhere."</p>
<p>"Promise?"</p>
<p>"Promise."</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny rocked back on her heels, watching her opponent with sharp eyes. Their bright green suit and her deep red the most prominent figures in the room, clearly seen atop the cage they were trapped in. They'd been fighting for a while now. Nothing crazy long, but long enough that her legs shook with the effort of holding herself up and a thin trickle of blood that had run down her forehead was now dried, sticky against her skin.</p>
<p>The man across from her complimented his own suit nicely, shimmery scales coating his cheek, his eyes a piercing yellow. She understood why the announcer had called him 'The Lizard,' what with the scales and the strong grip his hands possessed. He was a tough fighter, and she was weaker than she'd ever felt recently. It'd been a week since she'd met Osborn, and it had been <em>hell.</em></p>
<p>Before, her days had been filled with a strange mixture between fear and boredom, and her nights with fighting, and while she sometimes preferred the fighting because she at least had something to do, she now <em>much</em> preferred the night--filled with angry yells, punches that made her head ring, and catcalls that never failed to make her skin prickle--to the intimately more painful day.</p>
<p>The bruises around her eyes had dulled by now, no longer inflamed by <em>that </em>specific test, but the samples taken from her skin and the amount of tests she was forced to do when she usually rested for her next fight were wearing her down. Extreme cold, extreme heat, temporary blindness that had left her shaking in Steve's arms for hours on end, bruises and burns pressed against her skin. All in the attempt to try and recreate what she'd become, either through some formula or just making a new spider like the one that had bit her.</p>
<p>Either way, it left her exhausted and unprepared for fights. She'd still done okay, managing to keep herself afloat in the ring enough that she kept the bright red suit that clung to her skin, uncomfortably tight (unlike how seamlessly the one Mr. Stark had made her had fit), but she couldn't deny there'd been plenty of times that she could've moved just a little quicker or been a little stronger.</p>
<p>And tonight was looking as uncertain as the rest.</p>
<p>Her legs shaking and her head ringing, she took another step around the cage, resuming the action of circling her opponent that had recently been stopped by a scrappy fight that had ended in very little other than an aching pain.</p>
<p>Quick as a shot, the teenager whipped forward, punching the man in the gut. He was unable to react fast enough other than to raise his arms to block feebly, sliding across the floor, stumbling. She retreated, sliding back, watching with piercing, sorrowful eyes as the man picked himself up, gripping onto the chains at the force of her punch.</p>
<p>She hated this. She hated inflicting this pain and this agony and this hurt, but there was no way to escape. Each punch, each kick and slap and hit from her overly powerful frame felt like a stab into her heart. She was too strong for this. She was hurting these people, who were innocent and starving and scared and she had done nothing to help here.</p>
<p>The crowd around her cheered, chanting for the final blow to land. Penny swallowed, watching the man across from her in anticipation as he forced himself up, his legs shaking and his inhuman yellow eyes watering. She just needed to end the fight. It'd be her last of three for the night--becoming a crowd favorite was apparently something that ended up in more pain--and she just needed to rest.</p>
<p>Not allowing herself to calculate anymore, the Spinneret ran forward, leaping and catching the men with her legs. She twisted, pounding him against the wall of clinking chains and then onto the ground with a heavy thud.</p>
<p>He fought back, scrambling to get a hold on her in an attempt to throw her off, but despite how much she was weakened, he was weakened too. He could do nothing as she threw him up at the top of the cage, leaping into the air to grab onto the top chains herself and kicking him down. He landed on the concrete with a dull thud and an echoing crack. He didn't move. The crowd cheered.</p>
<p>"--once more reigning victorious, we have the Vigilante of the North, our very own kickass, brown-eyed babe, <em>Spinneret!"</em></p>
<p>Penny blocked out the cheers of excitement, taking a deep breath before whaling to the showboating the people here usually enjoyed. If she hyped up the crowd enough, she was often given an extra piece of fruit, usually bruised and rotten sweet, but it was enough to encourage her to flip down from the top of the cage, landing on her legs straight and throwing her hands up, bowing deeply as though having finished a performance at the Golden Globe.</p>
<p>She wanted to go home.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Tony was ready to take Penny home. He'd poured over the plan as much as he could in the small time interval that he'd had, sending Friday to watch the security cameras on the hotel. There was little to report save for the brief appearance of Norman Osborn, dressed in a sharp suit and a sharp smile.</p>
<p>He and Rhodey had flown down to New Orleans just a couple of hours ago, checking into a cheap hotel not too far from the one they were infiltrating. His heart thrummed with nervousness. This wasn't something he could fuck up. He had to make sure Penny got home to May, and he had to do it right. She'd been gone too long. Way too long.</p>
<p>"Here. This one's for you," Tony said, pulling a card out of his wallet and passing it to Rhodey. It read 'Collis Jones,' the ID was old and weathered, taken directly from the pocket of the man whose name it read. A regular at the Starry Lights Hotel, like Tony's own, 'Derrick Coleman.'</p>
<p>"Are you sure this will work?" Rhodey confirmed, squinting down at the license.</p>
<p>"Not without these." He pulled out a thin mask, holographic in the light filtering through the boarded up window. They were old Shield tech that he'd kept stored. He was thankful they'd put so much effort into organizing him, so finding the masks had been a breeze and the easiest part of his flooded schedule. He hadn't had time to update the masks, but they'd do the job. However, his goatee had been a problem.</p>
<p>Being clean shaven for the first time in twenty years should be a disguise within itself.</p>
<p>Once they'd both changed into attire that would more fit the scene--dark leather jackets and distressed pants--they placed the masks on their faces, pushing the button by his ear.</p>
<p>Immediately they lit up blue, pixels highlighting and replacing his features with the ones on the license in his hand. His eyes were now blue, his nose slimmer and pointier. The wrinkles around his eyes, smoothed out and replaced by paled skin that made his hands and neck look like he'd had some kind of strange tan. Hopefully the lights in the Starry Lights Hotel Club would wash out the inaccuracies.</p>
<p>Tony turned to look at his friend, who now no longer looked like his friend. Now looking more youthful, his eyes slimmer and slightly slanted, he was Collis Jones. Tony took a deep breath. This had to work.</p>
<p>Rhodey--though his eyes were no longer familiar or comforting--gave him a reassuring stare, putting an arm on his shoulder, "We're gonna get her, Tony. It'll be okay."</p>
<p>"I know it'll be," he lied, "I didn't shave for nothing."</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Derrick and Collis arrived at the Starry Lights Hotel by taxi, slipping out of the bright yellow car and through the door of the moderately nice building. The lights in the foyer swallowed them in yellow light, swathing them in a sickly, unnatural glow.</p>
<p>The lobby was rather busy, filled with men that were dressed very similarly to him and Rhodey. Plenty were alone, but others were accompanied by women usually half their age, primmed up in fancy, tight clothes that didn't fit anything but a night scene. Derrick rubbed the coin in his pocket, strutting his way through the crowd as though he belonged in this place, following a group of men into the nearest elevator.</p>
<p>"Hey, Derrick! It's been a while!" 'Derrick' turned at the call, watching apprehensively but forcing on a welcoming smile as a man caught up with him and Rhodey, wringing his hand roughly, "I haven't seen you here in a month, where have you been?"</p>
<p>The man's smile was wide on his wrinkled face, but it didn't reach his pale green eyes. His hair, clearly once a bright blond, had darkened into a muddy brown with age and balding in the back. Despite his friendly attitude, he held an untrusting stink to him, one that Tony struggled to stand by. He couldn't look suspicious, he had to stay on track. For Penny.</p>
<p>"Y'know, the missus had me preoccupied. She was <em>very </em>set on a few weeks with her. Believe me, I got away as soon as I could," Derrick lied through his teeth. He'd well versed himself on Derrick's identity before coming down here, and had made sure to pay him a visit to make sure there were no interruptions. He even had the card in his wallet to prove it.</p>
<p>The man let out a low whistle, sympathetic, "I know how that is. It's always great to come down here for some peace, and some action isn't too hard to find. Where's your usual side piece?"</p>
<p>He should've chosen someone less shitty to impersonate, "Something about a funeral."</p>
<p>"Oh, well, never too late to pick someone new if they're busy. I heard you can pay for some action with the fighters." Tony was going to burn this place to the ground. It would be nothing but smoldering ashes by the time he left, "Anyway, who's your friend?"</p>
<p>Derrick glanced at Collis, who stepped forward to shake the man's hand, "Collis Jones, nice to meet you...?"</p>
<p>"Tomas Nelson. Nice to meet you."</p>
<p>"Likewise."</p>
<p>All three of them stepped into the elevator. Tomas took the lead, taking his own coin out of his pocket and slipping it into a hidden coin slot under the buttons, one of which lit up in response. Nelson gestured towards them, "Your turn."</p>
<p>Hiding his nervousness, Derrick placed the coin he'd taken from the real Derrick into the slot, Collis following suit with his own. The button let out a small ding each time, until the elevator was moving, taking them closer to Penny. The doors slid open.</p>
<p>The red swathed room was filled to the brim with chattering patrons, all holding a bottle of booze or a flute of champagne in their hands. It had moderately nice decorations, looking like a regular club that had a slightly above average budget. What caught his attention most, though, was the cage lifted in the middle of the room on a block of cinder.</p>
<p>There was already a fight going on, a bloody match between a man in a green suit and a woman in a slightly more revealing burgundy suit. They were both thin, only a sliver of wiry muscle showing through on the bare shoulders of the woman. Bruises littered their skin, various shades of yellow, green, and purple shown all over every bit of skin he could see. It told him all he needed to know about how the captives were treated in this place.</p>
<p>Nobody glanced their way as he and Collis walked into the room, instead fixating on the fight as the woman landed one last crushing blow, knocking the man out cold. There was a round of cheers mixed in with boos, cries of annoyance at the loss of bets and barks of laughter as rewards were passed out for accurate foresight.</p>
<p>A voice crackled through a microphone, "And the Bounder reigns victorious over the Lizard. Who saw that coming, eh? Everyone give her a round of applause." There were whoops and cheers that the woman didn't respond to at all, instead standing idly and stiffly as a man walked to the cage on a catwalk, cuffs in his hands and a gun on his hip. There was, however, somewhere else in the crowd who was much more welcoming of the attention, "And give another round of applause to the founder of all our time here in the Starry Nights Hotel, Norman Osborn!"</p>
<p>A spotlight landed on the billionaire, who stood in the middle of the crowd, a long flute of champagne held in his hand. The damn asshole even took a sip of his drink as claps and a few drunk cheers rang around the room. Tony forced himself to clap, reminding himself that he had to fit in and stay under the radar, but he could give little more than strained, slow claps. He congratulated himself for keeping his expression relatively smooth and unruffled at least.</p>
<p>The announcer continued, "And now to welcome Dr. Osborn's personal champion, the Spinneret! Who is up against her strongest foe yet, Captain America!"</p>
<p>Tony's eyes grew wide, watching in anticipation as the doors on either side of the room opened. On one side, Penny stepped out, and on the other Steve.</p>
<p>His heart stopped.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hehe no goatee man</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Recognize</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>eyoooooooooooo they're fightinggggggggggggggggggg</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony swallowed anxiously as he watched the two overly self-sacrificial superheroes in front of him, his left arm reduced to a shaking mess. Flashes of a shield against his chest and the pounding of metal against metal blinded him, and suddenly it wasn't <em>him</em> encased in destroyed armor, it was Penny who was the one beaten to a pulp. Penny on the cold floor, bloody and hurt with tears in her eyes.</p>
<p>He was broken from his nightmare by a soft touch on his shoulder. He tore his eyes away from the two gaunt figures in front of him, looking at Rhodey instead, searching for his familiar warmth of his friend, but finding it interrupted by the foreign face he wore. At least it was something, though.</p>
<p>He turned away from his friend, his heart thrumming anxiously as the announcer declared the beginning of the fight.</p>
<p>Steve and Penny didn't start at each other right away, instead circling around each other in harried, nervous movements, in Penny's case anyway. Steve's face was cold and passive, while Penny's was open to the world. She always had worn her heart out on her sleeve. She was nervous, he could tell, her eyes dark and jittery, every step unsure. Clearly, fighting Captain America hadn't been what she'd expected of tonight.</p>
<p>What Tony hadn't expected, was for Steve's demeanor to completely change for barely a microsecond. He changed from cold and stoic to reassuring and heartfelt before slipping back into his earlier mask. But it was enough, and suddenly Penny looked better. Her eyes didn't dart around in fear, her steps and face nervous, instead she grew confident, holding her ground. He wondered what had happened the past few weeks.</p>
<p>Penny leaped.</p>
<p>Tony had known that Penny was quick, but he barely saw her as she darted across the cage, landing a kick on Steve's stomach. She attempted to take the momentum and jump off of him, but Steve grabbed her ankle and swung her into the wall. Penny stumbled, but only for a moment, gripping the chains and swinging herself to the top.</p>
<p>They fought and fought and fought. It felt as though it would never end.</p>
<p>Sometimes they swung off of chains, using the cage as a jungle gym, other times they did quick hand-to-hand combat, moving so fast their limbs were nothing but a blur. Tony's arm shook the entire time, even as he noticed something peculiar about their movements.</p>
<p>Despite the intensity of their fight, nothing had really happened. There had been pushes and strikes that knocked each other back, but neither showed any hint of truly being hurt. Steve was refraining from hurting Penny. The most obvious show of it was when Steve launched to strike Penny in the face--which was bruised deeply around her left eye and the bridge of her nose--and then his posture changed. Painfully obviously, he slowed, allowing for Penny to grab his arm and throw him.</p>
<p>Tony's chest loosened.</p>
<p>Steve was protecting Penny. He shouldn't have expected any less. The man didn't think the soldier was perfect or the most morally upright person, but he was Steve. He was Steve who protected those who needed his help. He was Steve who was known for his goodness and his support. That might not have been extended to Tony, but it clearly had for Penny.</p>
<p>He knew he needed to get on with the plan, but with both Penny and Steve out here, there was little to do until their fight ended. He couldn't just snatch them out of plain sight. This was a stealth mission, and he hadn't shaved for nothing.</p>
<p>Still, Derrick and Collis made an effort to get closer to the bar, doing their best to stay under the radar. And, all Tony had to say, was that <em>not</em> being noticed had never been his forte.</p>
<p>He looked away to glance back at Penny for a fleeting moment, which was apparently long enough to smack right into Norman Osborn.</p>
<p>Collis recovered first, practically pushing himself in front of Tony as if he knew that the man was straining from attacking Osborn, "Excuse us, sir. I'm very sorry, we didn't see you there."</p>
<p>Norman squinted, but then he plastered on a smile, his gaze lingering on Tony for a second too long, but he held out a hand to shake all the same. Collis and then Derrick, who felt as though his hand were burning the entire time, "It's no problem at all. Are you enjoying the show?"</p>
<p>"Of course, sir," Tony forced out, biting his cheek, "They both know how to pack a punch."</p>
<p>He hummed, "There's a little too much dodging for my taste. I'll have to see about getting Parker's cell changed."</p>
<p>Tony and Rhodey glanced at each other. Rhodey asked, "What's wrong with their cells?"</p>
<p>"Parker and Rogers were placed together a few weeks ago. We were <em>hoping </em>for some infighting, but they've grown very close. Much too close, if you ask me. Which you should, since I run the place."</p>
<p>"I think it makes for an interesting dynamic," Tony dared, accepting a beer from a nearby waitress as he turned back to watching the fight. This time trapped next to Osborn.</p>
<p>Penny and Steve's fight lasted for what felt like hours, but when he glanced at the watch on his wrist, hadn't been more than ten minutes. The crowd was clearly enraptured by the two's battle, every eye hinged on every kick and every right hook. Cheers erupted at every punch, and, as Tony found out, the two could only protect each other for so long.</p>
<p>Eventually, Penny began to stumble. Her moves became slower, her whole body trembling with the effort of staying upright and continuing to fight. The length of the fight and her stay at the Starry Lights Hotel were clearly taking a toll on her, something that Osborn clearly didn't appreciate.</p>
<p>When Penny went down, sprawling onto her knees and then dropping to the ground completely, one billionaire's face was filled eith malice, and the other's with strained sorrow.</p>
<p>Tony hated himself for taking advantage of this, but now was the time, maybe the only time he'd get. He nudged Rhodey, who gave him a nod, moving forward to distract Osborn as he dashed to the bar. The door behind the counter was practically within his reach, but the bartender would be too suspicious if they watched Tony go through it. He doubted it was open to customers.</p>
<p>"Hey!" he called out to the bartender, forcing an angry customer into his voice, "Someone threw up over there. Are you going to clean it up or not?"</p>
<p>"Yes, sir. I'll go get it now."</p>
<p>They grabbed a mop and ran off, the side door swinging open. Tony dashed through the counter, slipping through the door and into the next room. Well, hallway.</p>
<p>It was bright, glaringly so, yellow lights lining the long hallway all barely a foot away from each other. Clearly, they didn't want anybody to be able to hide.</p>
<p>Tony pulled his glasses out of his pocket, tapping them awake and watching as the building was broken down in front of him. There were so many rooms, and so many filled with people, hunched over or splayed on the ground limply or slumped against the wall of their small closet-like rooms. He swallowed, beginning to make his way across the hall.</p>
<p>"Which way, Fri?"</p>
<p>"I cannot, at this time, detect Miss Parker, but a heat signature matching Captain Rogers is in the hallway to your right."</p>
<p>"Good. Lead me to him."</p>
<p>He took the right turn, flinching at the echoing sounds of his footsteps. They must've already had Penny moved to a different cell then, but why couldn't Friday detect her? Surely they wouldn't have moved her out of the building already? But the way Osborn had squinted at him, suspicious, didn't assure anything in him.</p>
<p>Tony had been walking for a couple of minutes before he ran into anyone.</p>
<p>He heard the footsteps echoing behind him, making his heartbeat pick up. He picked up the pace, scrambling to find an open door to slip into. He jangled one knob and then the other, but they refused to budge. He thought briefly about his gauntlet watch, but that would create too much noise. It'd bring more attention to him than if the people in the hallway noticed him.</p>
<p>He tried one last door before the owners of the footsteps rounded a corner, spotting him immediately.</p>
<p>"Hey! What are you doing back here?"</p>
<p>Tony turned around, glad that at least he wouldn't be recognized, "I got lost. I've been looking for a bathroom for the past ten minutes!"</p>
<p>The two exchange doubtful looks. The first one said, "What's your name?"</p>
<p>"Derrick Coleman," Tony answered immediately, holding out his hand to shake, which they did on instinct, "CEO of Coleman Associates up in Chicago. We provide the trucks down here for transporting the cargo."</p>
<p>"Colemen?" the second one asked, "I thought Osborn had banned you from coming down to the hotel. He said you were a scamming snitch"</p>
<p>Well, <em>shit.</em></p>
<p>Before the men could rip the guns off their hips, Tony had already drawn back his fist, landing a heavy punch on the blond one's face. The man stumbled back at the hit, and Tony flicked his hand at the pain of the punch, though he didn't let it stop him from kicking the other one in the crotch.</p>
<p>He groaned, dropping his weapon and reaching down on instinct. Tony punched his nose, knocking the man to the ground, and snatching the dropped weapon off the ground.</p>
<p>As his hand clasped around it, he realized it wasn't a gun, but rather a shiny spear, electricity thrumming underneath it. It extended into its full size at his touch, and he could feel the power the rather simple looking tool possessed. Clearly, these people had some access to that flying vulture guy Penny had been so concerned about.</p>
<p>With no time to be wistful or guilty, he swung the weapon at the blond man, who had stood up and was attack ready but dropped immediately as the spear touched his skin. Like a sack of rocks, he was on the ground, down for the count.</p>
<p>So. That hadn't really gone how he'd hoped it would.</p>
<p>Tony swallowed, thinking quick as he tried to find a place to hide the body, but he could already hear more footsteps. Either more people were coming down route or he'd caused too big of a commotion. Either way, Tony couldn't stay here and figure it out. The man took a moment to retract the spear and then dashed off to Steve's cell, following Friday's instructions as quickly as possible.</p>
<p>Which was made even more fun as a shrill alarm began screeching through the hallways, reminding him of a school bell. So much for the stealth mission.</p>
<p><em>"Take a right here," </em>his glasses instructed, <em>"Take another right. And then the third door on the left."</em></p>
<p>God, this place really was a labyrinth.</p>
<p>By the time Tony approached the door that supposedly led to Steve, he was out of breath with how much running he'd been doing. He never had liked cardio, and he could hear more footsteps still. They thundered throughout the halls, quaking.</p>
<p>Tony extended the spear, twisting it in his arms as he stood in front of Steve's cell. It thrummed with power, the tip glowing a bright blue. He placed it against the doorknob, which sparked and flew off at the touch. It was actually a pretty interesting weapon, and an image of placing it into the tips of the Iron Spider suit crossed his mind.</p>
<p>If Penny would ever want to speak to him again, that was.</p>
<p>The force of the doorknob flying off cracked the door open, revealing nothing but pitch black inside. He hesitated as he pushed the door open, stepping in. He moved to click his glasses, wanting Friday to light up the room in front of him, but was stopped as a hand grabbed him.</p>
<p>The hand clutched a fistful of his shirt, tearing him through the door and against a wall in the damp, dusty room. He was lifted against the wall, his head knocking against it and making him see bright colors. It was the only thing that was different than the smothering black of the room.</p>
<p>Escaping from the darkness, he heard the low growl of Steve's voice, "Who are you and what the hell do you want?"</p>
<p>"Well if you would turn a light on and put me down, maybe you'd find out," Tony snarked back on instinct. The grip on him loosened, disbelief evident in the way the soldier's breath caught.</p>
<p>"Tony?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, asshole. Now put me down." Steve let go instantly. Tony dropped, grunting as he made contact with the ground once again and squinting as a lightbulb was flicked on. Steve glared at him in confusion, an eyebrow raised as he took in Tony's appearance, "Oh, yeah. My bad."</p>
<p>Tony pressed his finger to the invisible button above his ear. The face he wore melted away, and Steve's face softened. Humor tickled in his eyes, and Tony knew it had to do with the loss of his goatee.</p>
<p>"You, uh--you look--"</p>
<p>"Yeah, yeah," Tony interrupted, "Now you have a beard and I don't. Get over it, Hagrid."</p>
<p>"Okay, okay. Sorry," Steve placated, taking a step back.</p>
<p>Tony glanced around the small cell that was nothing more than a broom closet. Was this where Penny had been the past few weeks? Stuck here in this small space? She must have been losing her mind. He'd seen the footage of her in the Storage Vault where she'd had practically a mansion and an entire suit to play with. This place would've been hell for her.</p>
<p>"What are you doing here?"</p>
<p>"Partying," he snapped, "I came to get Parker. Do you know where they put her?"</p>
<p>Steve shrugged, his face darkening, "They started taking her away about a week ago for experiments. I don't know where, just that she won't be back until morning."</p>
<p>"We don't have until morning. Are you good to fight out of here?" Steve hesitated,<em> "What?</em> You said they're <em>experimenting </em>on her! Put whatever arguments we have aside because I'm not letting her go through any more pai--"</p>
<p>"It's not that," Steve snapped, his brows furrowing in frustration, "I don't want that kid here any more than you do, Tony, but I didn't just randomly get kidnapped. This is a mission. I've been collecting evidence against this place. The team isn't here yet and if we don't get the rest of these people free--"</p>
<p>Tony pressed his glasses, "Friday. Get a message to the rest of those assholes to get over here. And to Rhodey and Vision too. We're raiding, right now."</p>
<p>"Tony--"</p>
<p>"It's the best possible time. Osborn's here, right next to Rhodey. He'll keep that asshole here, you have names that I'll take a list of later, and we can get this entire place cleared out. Besides, I'm not leaving Penny here any longer, and you can bet your mission is over once they realize Iron Man has taken one of their prisoners back. Either we work together or we don't."</p>
<p>Steve sighed, "Fine. Let's go."</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Norman had known something was terribly wrong once he'd run into Derrick Coleman.</p>
<p>Coleman was an arrogant man, not exceedingly smart, but even he knew better than to return after the billionaire had explicitly cut him off. Not only the man but his entire company. He didn't tolerate people messing with his business.</p>
<p>So when he'd ran into him again, he'd forced on a smile and pleasant friendliness. He was sure the man with a poorly covered interest in Captain America and recent failure Penelope Parker, and a voice that was too familiar was bound to cause some trouble. No need to make a scene about it.</p>
<p>But then he'd been gone, and barely ten minutes later, the intruder alarm had gone off. As he'd dashed off--not noticing the pursuing figure of Collis Jones--he'd known instantly where he'd recognized that voice.</p>
<p>Tony Stark.</p>
<p>He should've prepared better for this. He should've known that Stark wouldn't abandon his little pet, even if he had been mad at her. Parker was too powerful to just let go, and she was especially too powerful to let the competition have. Though he'd expected sooner resistance.</p>
<p>Stark must have taken his sweet time finding the secret of the Starry Lights Hotel.</p>
<p>"Send as many guards as we can to Dr. Octavious' room. Nothing gets through to Parker, do you understand me?" he ordered to a group of men surrounding him. They nodded and rushed off to follow his orders, a handful staying behind to escort him to said room where Parker was being held.</p>
<p>He grit his teeth.</p>
<p>Nothing would take his Little Spider.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny grit her teeth at the sound of the alarm ringing around the room, wishing she could bury her head underneath a pillow and try to block it out. That's what she usually did with sensory overloads anyway, not that it had ever held much success. Still, the prospect of being to lay in her bed beat her situation now. Even cuddling up next to Steve would be better, no matter how embarrassed she always was when she woke up.</p>
<p>Steve was warm, but the metal table she was strapped to was cold. Her entire body shivered with dreadful anticipation, waiting for whatever they were going to test on her today. She wondered if it had something to do with the alarm going off, but she couldn't think. She was too tired, her body too racked with pain to think about anything other than: <em>When will I be safe?</em></p>
<p>The answer didn't seem to be soon.</p>
<p>With a tremble up her spine, Norman Osborn strutted through the doors.</p>
<p>It had been a few days since she'd seen him, though she'd heard him during her 'tests' yesterday, while on a call with the Man in the White coat. He was the one who usually injected her with things or cut out pieces from her body. She hated every second she was in the room with him. Not that Osborn was much better.</p>
<p>The room felt like it shook with the force of his anger, and Penny shrunk back the best she could, her wrists clanging against the metal cuff. She wanted to be back with Steve. She wanted to go home.</p>
<p>"Mr. Osborn," the Man in the White coat greeted cautiously, closing out of a hologram that showed some interesting details about an octopus. She always tried to read whatever glimpses she could catch. Octopi were pretty cool, "What's going on? I was just about to administer--"</p>
<p>"Forget that serum. Today we're testing that little sixth sense of hers."</p>
<p>"That one isn't ready! We haven't even finished examining its effects on our rats. It could kill her."</p>
<p>She swallowed down a fearful whimper, making her eyes a stony glare as the two glanced at her. She could be brave. She could be brave. She could be brave.</p>
<p>"Then it'll test out her healing as well. Go get it."</p>
<p>"Mr. Osborn," the Man in the White coat consoled, "This is the only test subject we have. If something happens to it, we won't be able to carry on--"</p>
<p>Osborn shoved past the scientist, pushing the man aside, who stumbled and barely caught onto his desk. The billionaire tore open a cabinet in the wall, pulling out a pink bottle almost half a foot in height and attaching a too long and too thick syringe to it. Penny had always hated needles, but she'd only ever had her flu shot or blood drawn by a butterfly needle. Before this place anyway.</p>
<p>Whenever she got out, she hoped she'd never have to see a needle again.</p>
<p>Penny shivered away, but couldn't escape the man as he stood beside her, not a sliver of emotion on his face. She tried to twist away, but his hand gripped her face, forcing her cheek against the chill of the table. She flinched as the cold metal pierced her skin, swallowing forcefully as it dug into her neck, the contents of the vial emptying into her blood stream.</p>
<p>Immediately she felt woozy, her vision drifting and the alarms around her fading. As her vision dimmed to nothingness and her ears felt as though they were filling with fuzz, there was a <em>clang! </em>of the doors opening, the force knocking the doors into the wall and reverberating around the room. Neither she nor Osborn moved a muscle, the needle still in her neck as the vial emptied, and, while her vision was gone, she could hear well enough to make out a familiar voice.</p>
<p>"Let her go, Osborn."</p>
<p>
  <em>Mr. Stark?</em>
</p>
<p>No. It couldn't be... She'd been here three weeks. No way Mr. Stark was here. She wasn't his responsibility. She wasn't his mentee anymore, not that she really had been to begin with. Why was he here?</p>
<p>Osborn still hadn't let go of her face, but she savored her ability to still hear at the moment. She hoped that the serum's abilities would allow her to keep her hearing. Her vision was already gone--her chest shook with fear and adrenaline, tears biting at her eyes. She didn't like dark--but she could still at least hear. However fuzzy and vague it sounded.</p>
<p>"Stark. Rogers," the man responded coolly, and she could practically feel his smile, "I wouldn't take another step. I am the one with a needle in poor Penelope's neck."</p>
<p>"Hiding behind a child. Real brave move there," Mr. Stark spat, "Now move away from her."</p>
<p>"It's too late, Stark. You gave up the little spider. If you'd wanted her more badly you should've protected her more. Besides, you didn't create her."</p>
<p>"Neither did you," Steve said.</p>
<p>"She became mine when she <em>destroyed</em> my spider. I spent <em>millions </em>on that. Gone in seconds. But she's still got the spider in her. So, tell you what, once I've got what I wanted, you can have your pet back."</p>
<p>"You'll kill her first," Mr. Stark said. She shivered, "So step away and tell us--"</p>
<p>She couldn't hear. What was he saying? Where had he gone?</p>
<p>"Mr. Stark?" she felt more than heard herself say, flinching at the pain of the needle as she talked. But it didn't stop her, "Steve? I can't--"</p>
<p>The hand on her face gripped harder, his nails biting into her skin. She stopped talking immediately, reduced to waiting. She was a superhero. And she was waiting like some kind of damsel in distress. She waited for what felt like hours, occasionally interrupted by flashes of pain, but, in her panic induced haze, was probably nothing more than a few minutes.</p>
<p>Her spidey sense ran up her spine once again, but this time it didn't feel like a threat. It felt like safety. Was she safe?</p>
<p>A moment later, the needle was taken from her neck, and the sense of danger receded. Osborn must have stepped away. Or been knocked out. Either worked with her.</p>
<p>The feeling of safety grew closer, like a warm blanket, as she felt a hand touch her hair. She leaned into the touch, which disappeared quickly only to be replaced around her wrists, breaking the metal clasps holding her down. Two different hands encased in metal shattered the equally cold metal around her ankles. And then she was free. Well, free of the table.</p>
<p>Penny immediately sat up, swinging her head around as she tried to make sense of the world. She couldn't see and she couldn't hear, but she guessed Osborn had been right. Her senses lead her.</p>
<p>She reached out a hand, "Steve?"</p>
<p>Calloused hands gripped her own, a calm thumb rubbing up against it. She could feel the vibrations of him talking, but his words were lost upon her.</p>
<p>"Steve? I can't--I can't hear. Or see. Are you okay?"</p>
<p>The thumb paused, and she thought Steve and Mr. Stark might be talking. She still didn't understand. Why was Mr. Stark here? Did he know about the mission?</p>
<p>One of the hands clasping her own let go, tracing up her arm and eventually onto her cheek, clearly in an attempt to not startle her. She thought it was Steve's hand, it felt familiar. He had warm hands that were twice the size of her own, and this one covered nearly her whole cheek. The other hand took her own and placed it up to his face, her fingers brushing up against a bushy beard.</p>
<p>Steve.</p>
<p>She clasped his hand tighter, "Hi, Steve. Sorry I had to kick your ass earlier."</p>
<p>She felt a ghost of a smile pressed against her hand. Both of them knew it was total bullshit, but neither mentioned it out loud. After a moment, he let go of her cheek, her hand pulled away as well, before someone else replaced him.</p>
<p>These hands were smaller and rougher, but no less gentle as they followed the same motions as Steve had. They traced the bruise underneath her eye, stopping immediately when she winced at the pain. When her hand was placed against the cheek of who she assumed was Mr. Stark, she pulled back in shock.</p>
<p>This wasn't Mr. Stark. Mr. Stark had a goatee. This person didn't.</p>
<p>Her face twisted in confusion, reaching back out, "Steve? Who is...?"</p>
<p>Steve retook her hand after a moment, tapping against her hand. It took her a moment to recognize that it was Morse code.</p>
<p>T. O. N. Y.</p>
<p>She furrowed her brows, "What? No. Mr. Stark has a goatee."</p>
<p>Steve shook with silent laughter beside her.</p>
<p>S. H. A. V. E. D.</p>
<p>"What? Why? What?"</p>
<p>Steve started to tap something else out, when he stopped suddenly. She felt a tremble of danger run up her spine. They weren't safe.</p>
<p>She felt herself release a yelp of surprise as she was suddenly scooped up, hugged close to Steve's chest.</p>
<p>They ran.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Tony glared at the man in front of him, the spear held aloft in one hand and his gauntlet whining in the other. Steve aimed the gun he'd looted from one of the many men they'd taken down on the way here. Tony's ribs ached even thinking about the amount of fights they'd gotten into on the way here, and his heart tightened as he glanced at Penny.</p>
<p>She lay stiff on the table, her head pressed roughly against it, and so clearly afraid. The needle pressed in her neck had yet to leave, Osborn still pressing the pink liquid down.</p>
<p>Osborn scowled, "She became mine when she <em>destroyed</em> my spider. I spent <em>millions </em>on that. Gone in seconds. But she's still got the spider in her. So, tell you what, once I've got what I wanted, you can have your pet back."</p>
<p>"You'll kill her first," Mr. Stark whispered, putting as much cold threat into his voice as he could, "So step away and tell us what the hell is in that via--"</p>
<p>"Mr. Stark?" Penny called out, her voice wobbling with fear as she flinched, "Steve? I can't--"</p>
<p>She cut off as Osborn's hand pressed up against her face violently hard. They took a threatening step forward.</p>
<p>"It's okay, Penny. We're right here," Steve tried to assure, but Penny didn't acknowledge the man's reassurance.</p>
<p>"You're cornered, Norman. What's in the vial?"</p>
<p>"Hm? Oh, <em>this? </em>Y'know, I'm not completely sure. Dr. Octavious?" Norman lied through his teeth, a twisted smile shining through his teeth. Tony hesitantly shifted to look at the so called scientist, glaring at the man.</p>
<p>Dr. Octavious shot Osborn an angered look, but with no other options, he complied, "It's an experimental sensory tamper. It should make her blind and deaf, if it doesn't kill her."</p>
<p><em>"Excuse me!?" </em>Tony demanded.</p>
<p>"Temporarily, temporarily!" Dr. Octavious rushed, "It's not permanent! Probably just a day or so."</p>
<p>Tony grit his teeth. Osborn smiled.</p>
<p>"Perfect. Should be long enough to move her."</p>
<p>"You're not going anywhere," Steve said, his voice steely.</p>
<p>"Oh, and you're going to stop me? One wrong move and..." Osborn fiddled with the needle, and he saw Penny squirm in pain, a low whine escaping her throat. His eyes darkened and he couldn't stop himself from looking away, forcing himself to take a deep breath.</p>
<p>Tony caught a door at the other end of the room slipping open out of the corner of his eye. He refused to give any indication of his relief, instead glaring down the billionaire in front of him.</p>
<p>"You're trapped, Osborn. Let her go," Tony ordered.</p>
<p>Osborn scoffed, "You and what army, Stark?"</p>
<p>The click of a gun rang across the room. Osborn froze, his face dropping comedically.</p>
<p>Rhodey's face melted into view, the blue mask disappearing with a soft click, revealing Rhodes' stony expression, "I think you should be asking yourself that question. Now, take the needle out and put your hands in the air."</p>
<p>Tony and Steve both approached, weapons raised, as Norman did as told, his face sour with defeat. Rhodey called Octavious over as well, and together, the billionaire and the colonel tied the offenders up. Steve stepped over to Penny. Tony heard the soldier mumble, 'Hey, kid,' as he dumped the two men against the wall, promptly knocking them out.</p>
<p>"Tony, come help me with her cuffs," Steve said, and he marched over, using the gauntlet around his wrist to shatter the metal holding the kid down.</p>
<p>Once free, she immediately sat up, her head swinging around in confusion. Clearly the serum had worked. Her eyes stared around emptily, though they hadn't lost their usual sharp intelligence. Penny reached out a hand towards Rogers instinctively.</p>
<p>"Steve?"</p>
<p>He grabbed her hand gently, rubbing it soothingly, "Hey, kid. It's okay. Me and Tony are right--"</p>
<p>"Steve? I can't--I can't hear. Or see. Are you okay?"</p>
<p>Steve paused, glancing up at Tony and Rhodey with a lost expression, "Is there anything we can do to fix this?"</p>
<p>Tony picked up the vial, breaking off the needle and examining the last of the pink liquid inside before shoving it in his pocket, "Not here, not now. We're just going to have to lead her out of here until I can get her to the Medbay. Or for whatever this is to wear off."</p>
<p>The soldier nodded, and Tony watched with sharp eyes as he traced one hand up her arm and then onto her cheek before taking her other hand and placing it on his own face. Her eyes widened with recognition and comfort, squeezing his hand tighter.</p>
<p>"Hi, Steve. Sorry I had to kick your ass earlier," she murmured, tilted humor in her voice.</p>
<p>Steve smiled.</p>
<p>Tony's chest panged with guilt and regret. He'd known Penny for three months, and he hadn't even been able to give her a compliment without the kid dipping away from him and not asking for help. She'd known Steve for three weeks and reached out for him as though she'd known him for years. She felt safe with him. The Avenger knew it wasn't Penny's fault, but rather his own. He hadn't been the mentor she'd needed, a <em>good </em>mentor. He'd been proud of her from afar. He'd kept her safe from afar. Not that she knew any of that, or that he'd even done a particularly good job.</p>
<p>After a moment, Steve stepped away, gesturing to him. Tony looked at him in confusion.</p>
<p>"She said your name too. And I think she'd be glad to know you're here."</p>
<p>Not sure how to react to Steve's kindness and sappiness, he rolled his eyes, but stepped to kneel in front of Penny nonetheless, taking her hands just as Steve had. He followed Steve's motions, letting Penny know where his hands were at all time as he traced up to her cheek, his fingers resting just below a bruise on her cheek. He traced a cut that rested below it, small and precise. Surgical.</p>
<p>He lightened his touch when she winced in pain, moving onto letting him know who she was by placing her hand on his cheek. Unlike her reaction with Steve--filled with trust and recognition--she instead pulled back, as though burned. She called out for Rogers once more.</p>
<p>"Steve? Who is...?"</p>
<p>Steve gave him a wary look, uncertain, but retook her hand, tapping against in Morse code. He recognized his name as it was typed out, and so did Penny, her brows furrowing in confusion.</p>
<p>"What? No. Mr. Stark has a goatee."</p>
<p>Steve shook his head while Rhodey barked with laughter. Even Tony couldn't help but huff out in amusement as she sputtered in confusion. Steve tapped her arm again, but Penny only looked more confused.</p>
<p>"What? Why? What?"</p>
<p>Humor bloomed in the room, but it was stamped out quickly by the sound of moving troops. All heads turned towards the door at the sound of thundering footsteps and the charging of weapons.</p>
<p>Rhodey poked his head out, immediately retreating with a panicked expression, "We need to go."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
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